Eternal Solstice
by Scream-in-Cathedrals
Summary: Bella has always been an unusual girl, gifted in ways other humans couldn't possibly fathom, but her world is turned upside down when she moves to Forks and meets Rosalie Hale. Slightly OOC Bella and Rose - femslash.
1. Not Yet

_A/N: Author's Note: So, this is my first stab at fanfiction. Obviously, I don't own Twilight or the characters that exist here. Some things in this story are canon, some are not, and some are of my own creation. I've kept most of the characters from the original Twilight, while working in some of the changes from Life and Death - I've chosen to use Edythe rather than Edward, since she's much more tolerable, and the wolf pack will be an even gender split. Anyway, enjoy!_

 _(Also, I suck at proofreading, so I apologize for any grammatical errors.)_

 _Chapter One - Not Yet_

The move to Forks was an act that had filled me with dread, yet it was ultimately a necessity. My mother's desire to live on the road with her new husband left me as not more than a well-loved but frustrating pet. As such, I was always interfering with plans, always screwing up their evenings together, always getting in the way. I loved my mother, and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy, so I agreed to return to living with my father for my final 3 semesters of high school. This meant I was confined to the small, rain-soaked, dreary town that my mother had fled all those years ago.

Okay, so it's not just pure selflessness; my mother drives me insane. 17 years of me essentially raising her, and I was ready for a break. As such, my distracted, uninvolved father perfectly fit the bill; he cared for me, but he was not the constant source of exhaustion that was my mother. Besides, I did miss him, and he deserved some time with me. So I suppose the decision was 50% self-sacrifice, 50% pure selfishness. No human being is that impossibly selfless.

Charlie had, of course, been ecstatic to see me, and had gifted me a used truck as a "Welcome to Forks" present. It had been restored by Jacob Black, the son of my father's best friend, Bonnie Black, whom I vaguely remembered. My father seemed eager for me to "Reconnect" with Jacob, dropping subtle hints about how he had "really grown up" since I last saw him. My mother had clearly neglected to make a "your daughter is a lesbian" phone call to my father, but I suppose telling him was my job. I knew he'd take it well eventually; okay, I'm not sure what his personal reaction to it would be, but I know he's so glad to have me here that he won't outwardly express any distaste.

I had been hoping I would be able to put this conversation off until another time, yet I was feeling that the male population of Forks would render it necessary very soon. I was currently walking to lunch with a boy named Mike Newton, whose demeanor could best be compared to an overeager chihuahua. He seemed hyper, eager to introduce me to his friends and eager to "get to know me better." He seemed like a decent guy, but I could already tell that his interests were not just in "friendship."

"Hey! Bella!" I turned around and saw a girl I had met in Spanish class walking towards me, her eyes narrowing at Mike for a half second. I tried very quickly to remember her name.

"Hi…Jessica?" I half asked, hoping she wouldn't notice my hesitation.

"Will you be sitting with us at lunch?" she asked.

"Sure, if you don't mind." I said, half hoping she'd say she would so I could escape Mike.

"Not at all, you can sit right next to me." She plastered on a forced smile and linked arms with me, leading me away from Mike. Mike looked slightly annoyed but followed us.

We settled at a table that included Angela Weber, a friendly girl I had met earlier, who seemed to be much nicer than Jessica. Sitting with her with two boys who I had yet to meet, and two girls; one of the girls was smiling at me, while the other glared.

"Bella, this is Eric Yorkie, Angela Weber, Taylor Crowley, Ben Cheney and Lauren Mallory." Jessica seemed less than eager to introduce me to everyone, but I appreciated it, even if the effort wasn't genuine.

The rest of the lunch period went on without incident, until I noticed them. They were sitting at a table far away from everyone else, conversing amongst themselves. They were the five most beautiful people I had ever seen. There were three girls, and two boys. The two boys were both tall, and extremely intimidating; one was hugely muscular with curly brown hair, while the other was just as tall but leaner, with sandy blonde hair that went to his neck. The blonde boy set next to a very, very short girl with spiky black hair, who seemed to be bursting with energy. Next to the brunette was a girl with bronze colored hair, styled in a chic bob; something about her features seemed to evoke the jazz age and the roaring twenties.

However, the most beautiful one by far sat on the end, alone. She was easily one of the tallest girls in school, at least 5'11" to my 5'5"; her hair was a vibrant honey blonde, flowing down to the middle of her back. Her features were stunning, with perfectly angled cheekbones and a stunning jawline. Her eyes were a shimmering topaz, similar to her siblings. She looked like she would fit quite comfortably on the cover of a fashion magazine. She was the most incredible person I had ever seen. I could not stop staring. I began to feel a strange sensation in my chest, something like a cross between a magnetic pulling and an electric current, each leading directly to her.

"Ah, so you've spotted the Cullens." I broke from my reverie and looked at Angela, who was giving me a knowing smile.

"Who are they?" I asked, attempting to keep the awe from my voice.

"That's Edythe and Emmett Cullen, and Jasper and Rosalie Hale. The one who's leaving the room, looking like she's about to explode, is Alice Cullen." I looked and saw she was right; Alice was leaving the lunchroom with a massive smile on her face.

"They live with Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and his wife, Esme." I knew I should respond to Angela soon, but I couldn't stop staring at the blonde on the end. She was talking very quickly to girl with bronze hair, who was looking slightly apprehensive and nervous about something.

"Well they're all very…" I trailed, unsure of how to describe them.

"Inhumanly gorgeous? Yeah, I know. It's not fair at all," Jessica interrupted, scowling slightly.

"Yes, they're gorgeous, but they're all…together. Like, together together." Lauren had joined in, with a look of repulsion on her face.

"Together?" I asked.

"Yeah, Edythe and Emmett are a couple, and so are Alice and Jasper. They all seem very happy together," said Angela. It was very clear, from the glare Lauren gave her, that she did not care that they seemed happy.

"Angela, they live together, legally they're siblings; don't tell me you're okay with…incest," whispered Lauren, shuddering.

"It's not incest if they're not related, Lauren," said Angela, rolling her eyes.

"Either way, it's still weird. And they don't talk to anyone else in the school, anyway, like they think they're better than us," snapped Lauren.

"Yes, I can't _imagine_ why they wouldn't talk to _you,_ " I muttered under my breath. Angela heard and stifled a laugh, smiling at me. I looked back to the blonde Cullen on the end of the table, who was fiddling with her food while muttering something.

"Who's the girl on the end? The blonde?" I asked, trying to keep the attraction out of my voice.

"Oh, that's Rosalie. The single one," sighed Mike. "She keeps to herself the most. She doesn't date at all. I guess none of the guys here are good enough." He sounded oddly bitter about that. I looked at Angela and mouthed "She rejected him, didn't she?" She giggled and nodded. Mike looked confused and then turned back to his food.

I turned back to Rosalie, and saw she was looking at me, curiosity evident in her face. Our eyes locked, and the pull seemed to become stronger as we stared at each other. All confusion left her face, and it was replaced with an intensity so strong that I blushed scarlet and looked away. I was so…confused. I had never felt anything like this before, yet it was so strange, and new. Electric currents and magnetic pulls, none of that was real, it can't be; it must be all in my head. Things like that, that level of intensity, it didn't exist in the real world, did it?

Still, I couldn't help but wonder. If none of the guys are good enough for her, maybe she doesn't like guys…but that was just wishful thinking on my part. Besides, even if I was straight, I'd still turn down Mike.

I turned back to the Cullen table, and gave them each a closer look. They all had the same golden eyes, in various hues; they were each extremely, almost inhumanly pale, except for the purple dark circles under their eyes. The two males seemed to be muttering in a serious tone, while the blonde goddess stared very deliberately at her plate; she wasn't eating, of course, none of them were. I turned away, but then turned back when I realized the bronze haired girl, Edythe, was glaring at me. Her eyes were a much darker amber than her siblings, and they were now staring deeply into mine; she looked frustrated, as though she was trying to do something but it wasn't working. She whispered something to Rosalie, and she too looked at me, alarm and surprise evident in her features. I blushed again and looked away, wondering what I could have done to attract so much attention from a group of people who, according to those around me, kept to themselves.

With that thought, I noticed lunch was ending, and I headed to my next class, biology. Mike followed me, chattering away while I mostly ignored him, and I hoped he would take the hint. He didn't. I sighed, and I entered the classroom. The teacher, Mr. Banner, smiled and beckoned me to him.

"Isabella Swan, welcome."

"I prefer just Bella, actually."

"Ah, well, in that case - Bella, welcome. You can take the empty seat next to Miss Hale."

I turned and saw Rosalie at a table in the back of the room. She was looking very determinedly out the window. I took a shallow breath, and walked up the table. I sat down, and took another look at her. She was even more stunning up close, if that were even possible.

"Hi, I'm Bella." She looked at me once, nodded, and looked away immediately. Nothing at all from her, no acknowledgement - just an uncomfortable glance from her onyx-colored eyes. I could have sworn in the cafeteria that her eyes were golden, like those of her siblings. I made no further attempt at speaking to her, and then looked away. I felt a flash of instinct then, like I often did - instincts that came to me out of nowhere, like a whispering voice in my ear, telling me things I couldn't possibly know. It was not exactly clairvoyance, but rather like a useful satellite, picking up important information and sending it to my brain only when I need it - this time, the voice said " _Not yet - she's startled and confused. Don't push it."_

I sighed like I often did when I received these warnings - I had been receiving them since I was little. At first, I thought I was being followed by ghosts. Yet because this voice was always right, I decided this couldn't possibly be true. The voice turned out to be useful, and I began to view them with less fear and more affection. I decided to call them instincts, as I didn't have a better explanation for it. I tried very hard to find evidence of something similar ever happening to anyone else, yet the internet was not very helpful. In middle school, I almost told a counselor, hoping for some guidance - luckily, the instincts kicked in again and told me that telling her would end with me in a psych ward. I am used to them now, even if I don't understand them - they'd never steered me wrong before, and I wasn't going to stop listening to them now. However, I was confused by the significance of " _Not yet;_ " was this the voice's way of telling me that eventually I will talk to this girl? What was she to me? As though my instincts heard my confusion, they responded " _She's important, but she's not ready yet. Not yet." Hmm. Important._

I tried to focus and avoid staring, but I did sneak glances at her; she was resolutely focused on the teacher in the front of the room, yet occasionally I thought I saw her eyes drift over to me. I made sure to stop, and not say anything to her. I tried not to think of the intensity in her eyes. When the bell rang, she sprinted out of the room, at an unusually fast pace, and I had to fight the urge to call after her. There was just something about Rosalie Hale, something perfect, something…inhuman. I could hear the instinct's voice in my head, telling me " _You will find out."_


	2. Dreams

_A/N: Thank you very much to those of you who reviewed and followed. This week have decent free time, so the updates will be frequent (or rather, I'll try to make them frequent), but in the future there will be gaps. Anyway, enjoy!  
I don't own Twilight or its characters, but I do own this laptop, so take that, universe. _

_Chapter Two - Dreams_

As I left the classroom, Mike Newton reappeared at my side almost immediately. I was going to have to find a way to reveal my sexuality soon, in order to get him to back off, wasn't I?

"Yes, you will." Sigh. Now you tell me,

"So, Bella, what's your next class?"

"Gym, unfortunately," I hoped my lack of enthusiasm would discourage him, but it made his smile get even bigger.

"Me too! Come on, I'll walk you there." He gestured at me to follow him, and I did, reluctantly. I made sure to put plenty of physical space between us as I did so.

"Hey, so…why was Rosalie Hale staring at you in there? " asked Mike.

"Was she staring?" I decided feigning ignorance would be best.

"Yeah, for most of the class. It was weird. She never notices anyone here." There was that bitter edge to his tone again. God, this boy did not take rejection well.

"Well, that's unusual, we didn't even really speak to each other. Must be a fluke…or something." God, I sucked at this.

" _Yes, you do."_ said the instincts. I began to roll my eyes, before remembering that voices in my head couldn't exactly see that. " _Smart girl."_ I stifled a laugh.

Gym went exactly as well as one could expect it to go for someone as uncoordinated as I am. Thankfully, the days activities mostly consisted of jogging on a track, which gave me few opportunities to trip, but somehow, I still did - three times. Mike seemed to find this very amusing, and began to make playful jokes at my expense, until I glared at him. He seemed to get that his attempts at flirting were failing, yet he still kept making new attempts. I did my best to nod politely and and chit chat as we walked out to the parking lot, but I really just couldn't wait to make it to my truck.

After I finally slipped away from Mike, avoiding an attempt to hug me, I walked over to my truck, and pulled out my keys. As I unlocked the door, I glanced over to the edge of the parking lot, and I saw her again. Rosalie Hale was staring at me again, onyx eyes as intense as ever; yet her body seemed to be shaking, as though she were fighting against…something.

" _She is."_ Ah, well, I'm glad I'm perceptive, at least. I started the engine, and looked back at her, and she was still staring. Suddenly, her glaring, bronze-haired sister appeared out of nowhere, and seemed to shove her into the silver vehicle. She spared another frustrated glance at me, and got in the driver's seat. Wow, she _really_ doesn't like me.

I got in the car, and drove home, trying not to think of Rosalie, and failing miserably. This obsession was developing rapidly, and there was a piece of that knew this would not end well, and that it was unhealthy and abnormal to be so struck by someone immediately; but, frankly, I didn't care. Something about it felt right, but I didn't know why. I remembered my instinct's voice, and decided not to overthink it. "Not yet."

xXx

I made a simple pasta dish for Charlie that evening, making a mental note to pick up some real groceries at some point during the week, and waited for him to return from work. Dinner was a mostly quiet affair; Charlie was not a big talker, and neither of us seemed to know what to say to each other yet. I cleaned up, and quickly headed upstairs to bed.

xXx

The next thing I knew, I was dreaming, and it was a bizarre dream - I was in a vibrant, beautifully colored meadow. The grass was a stunning green, in a way that seemed unnatural, and the flowers were all a shimmering violet. I felt as though I knew this place, or rather that I was going to know this place. This place felt important, and I didn't need to hear my instinct's voice to know that I was right.

I looked around, and my heart stopped; at the edge of the meadow was the most Rosalie, looking even more beautiful than I had ever seen her. Her skin was practically glowing in the sunlight, giving off a beautiful blue light; her skin had seemed pale before, but now it was so white that it was almost clear. She moved fluidly towards me, and as she stepped even further into the sunlight, her skin adopted a transparency so powerful that she looked like she was made of vibrant, glowing air. This was not possible, this was not real, this was not human Yet I could see the outline of her form, I could see her topaz eyes, her pink lips, her shimmering yellow hair; she was like angel and a ghost all rolled into one.

I knew that I should logically run away, I knew that the should scare me, but I stepped closer to her, mimicking her pace, until we were only inches apart. Her glowing hand brushed the side of my face, as she locked eyes with me, and whispered: "Isabella…"

I shivered at her unnaturally cold touch, but I didn't make any move to run. I moved my eyes to her lips, as she moved closer to me.

"Rose…" I muttered as she matched me, leaning her face towards mine. Our lips were about to meet...

"ROSE!" I gasped and woke up, shaking in the dark. I was drenched in sweat, and I was panting. I glanced into the dark, and for a half a second, I could have sworn I saw a pair of gold eyes shining by my window.


	3. Equilibrium

_A/N: I know, another update. Yes, I know, I'm remarkable, no need to thank me.  
I don't own Twilight, or it's characters, fair use, etc, etc.  
__

 _Chapter 3 - Equilibrium_

I got ready for school in a bit of a daze, trying not to focus on the content of last night's unusual dream. I have had similar dreams in the past, dreams that felt prophetic in some way, but none that were ever that vivid or confusing. In the past I could always at least usually understand what the dream was trying to tell me, but this time I was at a total lost. What was this dream trying to tell me, that I'm attracted to Rosalie Hale? Believe me, this is information I was already very much aware of. No, it was something else, but I could tell wasn't going to learn the significance of it yet.

I arrived a little early, so i chose to sit in my truck and wait, while watching other students pulling into the parking lot. It wasn't raining, thankfully, but the clouds were still gray and plentiful. There was a knocking on my window, and I turned to see Mike Newton, smiling at me over-enthusiastically. I tried to hide my repulsion and smiled back. He didn't seem to notice, so I stepped out of my truck, and allowed him to walk me into the building. Jessica appeared as soon as we entered, and thankfully distracted Mike enough for me to slip away to my locker to collect myself. This misplaced affection he has for me is really starting to get on my nerves, and I'm going to have to find a way to stop it, soon; my guess is Jessica is the key to that, so hopefully I can try to lead him in her direction.

The morning's classes passed without any incidents, and I arrived to lunch, again with Mike and an irritated Jessica in tow. I sat to eat, and chanced a glance at the Cullens' table. Again, like yesterday, they were absorbed in conversation, and none of them were eating. But most importantly of all, Rosalie was not there. All other four siblings were there, including her blonde brother, Jasper, but she was absent; I had no idea why, but somehow, I felt like it had something to do with me. I didn't need the instinct to tell me I was right there, because it was obvious. I felt an immense, overwhelming amount of sadness and disappointment at this revelation, so powerful that I almost didn't notice Jasper turn to stare at me. I was confused, but this didn't stop my waterfall of self-loathing; and as my confusion faded into the disappointment, Jasper smirked, as though he knew I was hoping to see his sister.

 _"He does. He knows what you feel," t_ he instinct whispered. I was taken aback; there was no possible way he could be feeling what I felt, could he? But I've never been wrong. I immediately looked away and tried to shut down my sadness, attempting to replace it with calmness, or at least a blank form of peace. I felt myself relaxing, and looked back at Jasper; he was no longer smirking, and he looked very puzzled. Edythe was glaring at me again, but it didn't bother me the way it did yesterday. I guess this was just her perpetual state of being, so I wouldn't let it trouble me. I'm sure I'll figure out why eventually.

 _"You will, but don't be so flippant or cocky."_ Lovely, now the voice in my head is lecturing me. This is a great sign.

I arrived at biology, half hoping that Rosalie would arrive late and be sitting next to me, but she never showed. Whatever I did to her, it must have seriously affected her. I liked this idea, that I could throw off her equilibrium as strongly as she threw off mine. Wishful thinking, possibly. Mike was again there to walk me to Gym, chattering aimlessly at me, failing to notice what I _thought_ was my obvious lack of interest. Sadly for him, his misguided chivalry lead him to pick me for his team in volleyball, and I ended up hitting him in the head three times, accidentally. Okay, so the first time was an accident, the second two times were deliberate. I tried for a fourth time, but my aim was off and I hit Lauren Mallory instead. The death glare she gave me indicted that this incident would not go without retaliation, and I made sure to leave the locker room as quickly as I possibly could.

Wednesday came quickly, and Rosalie again didn't appear. I tried not to think about her, but I failed, and managed to give such a spectacularly wrong answer in Trig that Mrs. Varner looked genuinely concerned for my well-being. The rest of my classes seemed to go mostly fine, and I tried extra hard to focus on taking studious notes on Mr. Banner's lecture. Lunch was also tolerable, as I managed to spend most of it deep in conversation with Angela, while Mike pouted and attempted to inject himself into our chat at every opportunity. Mike was grating on my nerves, but Angela was really quite a nice person, and I could easily see myself maintaining a genuine friendship with her. Jessica was another story; I really couldn't stand her, but I tried to be nice to her, in the hope that she'd begin to notice I had no interest in Mike whatsoever, and she would begin to pursue him as aggressively as he seemed to be pursuing me.

That afternoon, I made the grocery run I had planned earlier in the week, attempting to find at least a few healthy items at the tiny Thriftway that was Forks's biggest grocery store. Charlie's diet was in serious need of an overhaul, but I knew if I tried to force it I'd get pushback, so my plan was to slowly try to integrate some healthier recipes in with his usual takeout and beer diet. Tonight's attempt at that was a low fat lasagna, and I hoped he would appreciate it/not be able to tell I had used a different recipe.

As it turned out, Charlie did like the lasagna, and didn't seem to notice anything off about the taste. I counted this one as a job well done. I realized, while we were talking (or at least awkwardly attempting to do so), that I hadn't really mentioned meeting anyone interesting at school, or even acknowledged making any friends with anyone. I didn't want him to think I was a recluse or something; I know parents worry, God knows Renee was probably losing her mind down in Florida.

 _"Yes she is, you should have emailed her already."_ Fuck. I knew I had forgotten something. I knew I was going to have to write her a very long email tonight. That's not something I'm looking forward to.

"Everything alright, Bells?" I looked at Charlie to see him frowning. The dread must have been showing in my face.

"Oh, everything's fine; I just realized I hadn't emailed Renee yet, and I arrived 5 days ago. I was imagining how many panicked emails were waiting in my inbox." Charlie actually smiled and let out a laugh.

"Yeah, I can imagine. Your mother doesn't like being out of the loop, does she?"

"You have no idea." After that, we settled into another silence, but at least we were smiling. I tried to come up with something to talk about, but my mind came up empty. I could try mentioning the "friends" I made at school, but I know I wouldn't be able to pull that off; as much as I liked Angela, everyone else I regularly interacted with (Excluding maybe Ben, who seemed to have a crush on Angela) drove me insane. And I certainly couldn't mention Rosalie, unless I wanted to confess both my lesbianism and the fact that I seemed to have driven her away after only one hour of quiet staring. But I suppose I could ask about the Cullens…could I?

 _"Oh, just do it already."_ Well, there's my answer. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah, Bells?"

"I was wondering…do you know anything about the Cullens?" I paused, waiting for his reaction.

"What about them?" He seemed unfazed by the question.

"Oh, I was just…curious, I guess. People at school don't seem to like them. They do seem standoffish, but I was confused as to why the general public sentiment towards them is so…negative." This seemed to make Charlie angry.

"The people in this town…" he grumbled. "I swear, Doctor Cullen is one of the best physicians in the entire country, and all anyone can seem to do is gossip about how "Strange" the family is. Sure, they're an odd bunch, but Doctor Cullen has done so much good in the time he's been here; he could probably work at any hospital in the country he wanted, but he stays here. So what if he's pale, he's been a great help to everyone, especially to the force; he seems to have this kind of sixth sense when it comes to diagnosing people, which comes in real handy when we're trying to work out a cause of death." He grimaced for half a second. "Oh, sorry Bells, that's a bit gruesome for the dinner table, isn't it?"

"No, it's fine, Dad. I brought it up. Besides, it's really a dinner counter, so I'm sure this doesn't violate any etiquette rules." Charlie snorted. "Really, Dad, I don't have a problem with any of them; I just was wondering why everyone at school seemed to dislike them. They all seem nice to me. And they're certainly very…well…beautiful."

"Yeah, you should see the way all the nurses at the hospital moon over Doctor Cullen; I can't imagine how his wife puts up with it." We returned quickly to silence, before I headed up to bed. This conversation didn't seem to particularly help provide me with any new, valuable information, other than informing me that the father of the Cullen family was as impossibly beautiful as his adopted children. It makes no sense to me that a group of people who aren't related could share so many defining traits; yes, they were all different, but they had too much in common for it to be a coincidence.

 _"It's not."_ Not helpful, instincts. You could try being more specifics. I waited for a snarky reply, but none came.

xXx

The following day was just as mundane as the previous ones; Mike was overeager, Jessica was annoying, Angela was kind, and Rosalie wasn't here. Everything seemed to be going the same, until right after Biology ended. I left the room with Mike by my side (again), and ran straight into Alice Cullen. She was waiting right outside the door, and giving me a dazzling smile.

"Hi! You're Bella, right?" I couldn't speak. I suddenly had no idea how to form coherent sentences. Her smile seemed to have wiped my brain of all proper functioning. I didn't feel the same pull towards her that I did to Rosalie, but something about her smile was so striking that it made it impossible for me to think. She seemed to notice this, and laughed and gently tapped my shoulder. "Bella?"

"Um...yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I am Bella." God, what is wrong with me. Mike seemed to be confused too; he was looking at me like I belonged in a padded cell.

"Good. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second. It has to do with my sister, Rosalie." That somehow snapped me out of my trance, and caused me to focus. She seemed to notice this, and smirked.

"Uh, what about Rosalie?" I tried not to say her name with too much reverence, but I failed. Alice laughed.

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed that she's been absent all week."

"I have - is she okay? Is she hurt?" Alice shook her head, and smiled again.

"No, she's fine, she's just been feeling...under the weather. I'm sure you can understand, Bella."

"I do. So what does she need?" Mike seemed to take this as his cue to leave, and walked away, pouting again.

"I was wondering if I could borrow your notes and bring them to her for her to copy. It's important to her that she stays on top of things." She winked at me, and I lost coherent thought again. This little pixie may not be her sister, but she really is quite beautiful. Once I regained the use of my brain, I wondered: is this a good idea.

 _"You can trust her. She is a friend,"_ my instincts whispered. I immediately smiled warmly down at her; if I could trust her, then of course I wouldn;t refuse. Not that I would ever refuse to help Rosalie.

"Of course, Alice. I would love to help Rosalie." Well, I hoped that remark wasn't too obvious. I reached into my bag, and pulled out my notebook. "Here you are. Give it back to me when you can."

"Oh, I will. I think I'll be seeing much more of you in the future." She winked again, and walked away. Well, what could that mean? I knew she was supposed to be "a friend," but still; she seems to know much more than she's letting on. She almost seemed to know about the pull I felt towards her sister.

 _"She does."_

Well, shit.


	4. Rose

_Chapter 4 - Rose_

I had the dream about the meadow again. All the elements were the same, beautiful flowers, ethereal glowing Rosalie, uncompleted kiss, but there was something new - there was another presence in the meadow, something I didn't recognize, lurking in the shadows. Right as Rosalie was about to press her icy lips against mine, she vanished, and this new presence made itself known. It stepped into the sun, and while it glowed and shimmered like Rosalie, there was something more sinister about. It's movements were less fluid, more pronounce, more furious, not unlike a predator stalking its prey. This presence appeared to also be a woman, but she was slightly taller than Rosalie, and her hair was not blonde, but a fiery, vibrant orange. This woman approached me more slowly than Rosalie did, and instead of approaching her, I took a step backwards. Somehow, I knew I should try to escape, even though it seemed like I wouldn't be able to get away.

I blinked once, and then she was in front of me. She opened her eyes, and smiled. Her teeth were a piercing white, longer than Rosalie's, and more foreboding. But it was her eyes that scared me the most; rather than the comforting gold tones I was hoping for, they were a piercing ruby red. She laughed, and placed her hand on my neck; her touch was cold and hard, and her nails began to sink into my skin.

She softly said, "Isabella..." in a menacing purr, and pulled me towards her.

And again, I was awake, panting, terrified, confused and drenched in sweat. I looked to the window, expecting to find the golden eyes, but saw only darkness. I was scared, and alone. And I wanted Rosalie here to save me.

xXx

I was unable to fall asleep after the dream, too alarmed after the vision of the red-eyed woman to truly allow myself to drift away into unconsciousness. I decided to give up, and chose to read Wuthering Heights until the sun rose. Once I heard my alarm clock go off, I quickly got myself ready for school, and ate breakfast while barely acknowledging Charlie. I was too exhausted to try to talk to anyone, really.

I arrived at school early again, so I spaced out, staring at the parking space where the Cullen always parked, almost attempting to will Rosalie into appearing. Mostly, I was just trying to do anything I could to keep my mind from dwelling on the red-haired woman from my dream last night; she seemed real, her features too specific. But why was that woman in the meadow, why she after me? I couldn't fathom a reason that someone or something like that would be after me, but the very Idea terrifies me. All I wanted now was to see Rosalie's face, to see the beauty, to feel something other than fear.

The Cullens' silver Volvo appeared, almost as if on cue, and stopped. I could almost hear my heart beating in the silence of my anticipation - and there she was. She emerged from car, dressed impeccably, and looking like an angel. She was even more beautiful than I remembered, and I felt myself almost paralyzed. I admit, it was a bit pathetic; I was sitting in my truck, not moving, just staring across the parking lot at Rosalie Hale.

Unexpectedly, she turned, and stared right back at me. I immediately noticed that her eyes were not the pitch black they were on Monday, but instead were the warm gold from my dream (and possibly my bedroom, I'm still not sure). The deep shadows under her eyes were still there, but were much less pronounced. I doubt I would have noticed them if I hadn't been staring so intently at her. But most different of all was her facial expression. Gone was the intensity of Monday, and in it's place was...nervousness? Rosalie looked deeply apprehensive of something, as though she was attempting to make a decision about...something. She seemed fearful, almost vulnerable; she looked as though she was afraid that one wrong move could destroy her. I felt the electric current in my chest, the tugging towards her, and I immediately I wanted to ease her fears, to make her feel better. I was overcome with a strong desire to get out of my truck, run towards her and pull her into my arms; I was not stupid enough to do this, of course, but I still wanted to comfort her. Something about this girl I barely knew meant the world to me, and I wanted to make sure she was okay.

I took a much more laid back approach, and I tentatively smiled at her. I knew of her reputation of an ice queen, and I expected to be immediately met with a scowl or a look of disdain. Then, Rosalie smiled back. It was not an eager smile, but it was there. The very sight of it shook me so deeply that I stopped breathing. I widened my smile, took a breath and waited. Suddenly, her smile vanished, and she was like ice again. It was like she had placed an invisible wall in front of her, and though that wall had faltered just for a moment, it was back. She no longer seemed to be looking at me, or at anyone; her face was displeased, and her eyes had darkened. Alice appeared next to her, looking at me apologetically, and lead her away.

I still couldn't forget how her smile looked, though.

xXx

At the end of second period, it began to snow. Everyone else in my class seemed to be excited, yet I had no idea why. To be fair, I had never experienced snow in Phoenix, yet from an objective perspective, there couldn't possibly be any reason to enjoy snow. It was cold, wet, and it had a tendency to ruin people's schedules, homes and lives. Okay, perhaps it was a bit dramatic, but frankly, any weather that requires shovels and trucks to be dealt with is not something to be celebrated.

Mike, of course, was thrilled, and was planning a snowball fight after school. I had been invited to participate, but of course, I very politely but firmly declined. Again, it's cold and wet, why would throwing it at someone's head make it any more appealing? Jessica seemed eager to go along with this (though she seemed to be willing to do anything he suggested), as did the other guys in the group of friends I sat with at lunch; thankfully, Angela seemed to be on my side in the matter, and we managed to get the others to leave us out of it.

Speaking of lunch, Rosalie was conspicuously absent. I knew she was in the building, though, because I could have sworn I caught another glimpse of her in between classes, but I couldn't be sure. However, Edythe Cullen seemed to have resumed her attempts to glare a hole through my head, and I had to admit, it was getting on my nerves. I knew I frustrated her, somehow, but I didn't know why, so I couldn't possibly begin to understand or sympathize with her frustrations. I'm sure there is a logical explanation ( _"Its not logical, but there is an explanation,"_ according to my instincts), but for now the behavior is just annoying. Today, I decided to glare back at her, looking directly into her eyes. They were a dark shade of amber, and they were still pointedly fixed on my forehead. I stared her down for two minutes, before I caved and resumed eating. I noticed Jessica smirking at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Do you have something you would like to say, Jessica?" I asked, in a faux sweet voice.

"I was just wondering when you were going to stop staring at Emmett," she replied, mimicking my faux sweetness.

"Um, excuse me? Emmett?"

"Its kind of obvious, Bella. You were looking over there for two whole minutes, and now Edythe Cullen is glaring daggers into your skull. Sorry, Bella, but he's taken."

"I wasn't staring at him, I was…" I looked for a logical explanation. "I was just sort of spacing out, I guess."

"Surrrre you were, Bella," replied Jessica, with a harsh laugh.

"Don't be embarrassed, Bella, Emmett's gorgeous," gushed Lauren.

"If you say so," I muttered. I heard a quiet guffaw from across the lunchroom, and I could have sworn it came from the Cullen table.

"What, you don't see the appeal, Bella?" asked Angela, with a teasing tone to her voice.

"Emmett's not my type, really," I replied.

"Oh come on, how can he not be your type, what does he lack that failed to meet your approval?" sneered Lauren.

I sighed, and replied "It's not that he lacks anything, Lauren; I'm just not attracted to him. is it so impossible to believe that I, unlike you, don't spend time pathetically obsessing over men who wouldn't ever want me?" Angela snorted, Ben and Eric snickered into their food, and Jessica seemed to be torn on how to reply. Lauren, however, looked furious. I took that as my cue to leave.

"Well, I'm done eating, so I think I'll go now." I grabbed my tray and headed for a trashcan. I heard Mike call after me, but I ignored him. I just wanted to go to class, and avoid the scrutiny of my classmates. I really need to get more covert about my growing obsession with Cullens, don't I?

 _"Yes. Yes you do._ " Ah, instincts; always choosing your timing so carefully.

As I left the cafeteria, I could have sworn I heard more laughter from the Cullen table.

xXx

I arrived to biology 10 minutes early, so I took my spot in the back of the room, and sat there stewing over my interaction with Lauren. I didn't really care about her, or her opinion of me, but I did like Angela, and she seemed to be slightly attached to that entire group, including Lauren. Alienating myself from Lauren was likely not the best idea at the moment; I could try to pretend to apologize, but that would just be patronizing for the both of us. Hopefully we can just peacefully ignore each other for the time being, or at least try to. However, getting kicked out of the lunch group would mean less time with Mike Newton, which was always a good thing. Then again, I doubt social ostracizing would really be enough to keep him away for long. I sighed, and went to pull out my notebook, before I remembered I had given it to Alice, to give it to Rosalie. I guess I'd just have to wait, then.

The bell rang, and students began to appear in the room, very slowly. When Angela entered, she gave me a conspiratorial thumbs up and a wink, while Mike just looked irritated at me. Jessica, as always, had her eyes too glued to Mike to really notice much else. I sighed and stared pointedly at the desk, until I heard the sound of a chair scraping the floor next to me. I turned, and there was Rosalie, looking equal parts confident and detached. I stared like an idiot for a few seconds, before I blushed and looked away. Then, I heard her voice.

"Hello. I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to talk last time. My name is Rosalie." Her voice was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. It was like a low, velvety and sultry, reminiscent of the film stars of the 1930s; the most obvious comparison was Marlene Dietrich, but perhaps without the accent. I sat there dumbstruck, unable to respond. She was no longer looking icy, but something about her seemed very guarded. I tried to remain as calm as possible.

"Hi, Rosalie...I'm Bella." I attempted to keep my voice from wavering, but I failed and immediately blushed. Rosalie almost smiled, before she gave an involuntary shudder and her controlled, icy facade reappeared.

"I wanted to say thank you for letting me borrow your notes. This week, I've been feeling..." She paused, not seeming to know how to proceed.

"...Under the weather?" I volunteered. Her demeanor softened again, ever so slightly.

"Yes, but I think I'm doing much better now."

"I'm very glad to hear that. So...are you back for the time being?" I asked, trying not sound too hopeful. She smirked, and I blushed.

"Yes, I believe so." She pulled my notebook out of her bag, and handed it to me. "Here." She turned to face the rest of the room, putting back up the wall. I was confused. She seemed both friendly, and extremely apprehensive of speaking to me; I really didn't get this girl. Yet somehow, I wasn't too upset; I could feel the pull in my chest again, but it was less pronounced, more relaxed, as though being in her presence had made it easier.

 _"It did. You're doing much better now. Control your enthusiasm, and she'll open up more."_ I suppose I did seem a bit over eager, but I really can't help it. I turned my attention back to the front of the room, where Mr. Banner was explaining the days lab. As it turned out, today we were using microscopes; I had been so distracted when I showed up that I failed to notice the one sitting on my desk. It was a simple assignment, one I had completed a similar version of back in Phoenix; we were to take a group of slides that were out of order, and identify which stage of mitosis they were in. We were not to use our books, or to attempt to see which partners around us had completed the assignment. We had twenty minutes.

Mr. Banner said, "Get started," and I looked over at Rosalie. She shrugged, and passed the microscope to me.

"Thanks," I muttered. I studied the slide, turning up the magnification; it was prophase. I began to write the answer down on my worksheet, but I heard Rosalie speak.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" she asked, barely looking at me, while I began to remove the slide. Her hand brushed against mine, to stop me, and I gasped. Her hand was impossibly cold to the touch, not unlike holding hands with an ice sculpture, but this is not what caused my small outburst; as her hand brushed mine, I felt an electric current run through my veins, directly to my chest. It was halfway between a sting and a shock. I immediately removed my hand, and regretted it; as soon as the sensation stopped, my chest began to feel hollow. I did not understand that sensation, but I knew that I missed it. I looked at Rosalie, and she was staring at me with the same intensity she had on our first day. Her eyes flashed back to onyx, as she too, let out a small exclamation, a simple: "Oh." I couldn't help but wonder if she felt it too.

 _"She did. But don't ask about it."_ "Prophase." She nodded at me, and I finished writing the answer down. Without asking, she took the second slide out of the box, and identified it as anaphase. Right as she went to write it down, I asked: "Do you mind if I take a look?" She smirked at me, with what looked like a flash of genuine amusement in her eyes, and handed me the microscope.

"Prophase," I agreed, writing the answer down. We continued this back and forth, and finished the assignment almost immediately. An awkward fell over us, as I fought the urge to reach out and grab her hand again, to feel the electricity. I saw her staring at me again, with hints of nervousness under icy walls, and I gave her the tentative smile from this morning again. She smiled back at me, just as Mr. Banner came over to check on us.

"Why the pause, ladies?" he asked.

"We're already done, actually," said Rosalie dismissively. "Bella identified three, and I did two."

"Really, Miss Swan?" I nodded. "Have you done this lab before?"

"Not with onion root, but with whitefish blastula. I was in an advanced placement program in Phoenix," I explained, hoping my explanation didn't come off as arrogant.

"Well, it's a good thing you two are lab partners then." He walked away, mumbling something under his breath. Rosalie smirked at the back of his head.

"He said something else, didn't he?" I asked.

"Yeah. He said 'so the other kids will get a chance to learn something for themselves.'" I snorted, and then covered my mouth. God, I did not just snort, in front of Rosalie Hale, did I?

 _"You did."_ Not helpful, instincts. Not helpful. Rosalie actually seemed genuinely amused. Her smile seemed more real, less tentative now. A wall had been dropped. I paused, wanting to say something, unsure what that something should be.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Said Rosalie, nonchalantly. I admit, talking about the weather was unusual, but I welcomed the opportunity to hear her voice again.

"Tell me about it. I don't like the cold. Or the…wet."

"Forks must be a very difficult place to live for you," she responded, a slight hint of sympathy in her voice, though I could have imagined it.

"You have no idea," I responded, darkly.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you move here?" she asked.

"My mother got remarried."

"So that meant you had to move? Do you not like him" She seemed genuinely curious and again sympathetic, but I didn't know why.

"No, he's a good guy. Too young, I suppose, but a good guy. It's complicated, I suppose."

"I'm sure I can keep up," she replied, almost dismissively.

"Well, Phil's a minor league ball player, so he has move quite a bit. So I sent myself here so she could go with him."

"You sent yourself here?" she asked, incredulity coloring her annoyance.

"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie."

"And now you're unhappy."

"I am, yeah. Mostly. But it doesn't matter. Renee deserves to be happy." At this statement, returned her eyes to mine, intensity increasing.

"That isn't fair to you. Bella…you deserve to be happy, too." She looked sincere, so honest. I was…completely and totally caught off guard. So caught off guard that I said something stupid.

"Do…do you really mean that, Rosalie?" This caused the warmth to slip off her face like a falling piece of ice, and her lip curled into an angry expression that was almost like a snarl.

"I would never say anything to you that I didn't mean, Isabella!" she snapped. She immediately faced the front of the room, glaring at the whiteboard. Shit. This was not good. I had gone from softening her up to pissing her off. I had to apologize, but not do it in a way that seemed flippant. I carefully picked out the words in my head, and my instincts told me that these were the right words. I moved in my seat, so I was close to her.

"Rosalie…I'm sorry." She didn't reply. "I didn't mean to insult you, or question your sincerity." Hesitantly, I reached out and placed my hand on top of hers. The electric current surged through me again, and I let out a harsh intake of breath. I held my hand there for a few moments, feeling the charge, waiting. She slowly turned to look at me, her eyes back to their original onyx, taking on a smoldering quality as she stared deeply into my eyes.

"Thank you for saying that…and thank you for meaning it. For really thinking that I deserve happiness. Thank you, Rosalie." I didn't break eye contact with her, hoping she'd listen. She didn't break my gaze, but the vulnerability returned to her face.

"You're welcome, Bella. Its just the truth." She didn't move her hand, so I moved mine. Unexpectedly, she reached out and grabbed, keeping her eyes locked on mine.

"Bella…"

"Yes?" I replied breathily. She gave me a true, warm, dazzling smile.

"Call me Rose."

 _A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and compliments, everyone! I'm trying to soften Rose's edges just a bit, but not so much that she doesn't seem like herself. It's hard to find that balance between making her more open and erasing her personality (or that other fanfic trend, where she becomes a one note bitch villain). Also, to those mentioning Bella's "instincts," trust me, there is an explanation, but it's not coming for a while - there is an explanation, though. (Also yes, some excerpts of dialogue from this sequence were taken from the Twilight book, just to guide the conversation.)_


	5. Inhuman

_A/N: So from this point on, the updates WILL be slightly slower, but as it is November, I am pushing myself, so here we are._  
 _Disclaimer - I don't own Twilight or it's characters, I've never seen Twilight or its characters, I don't even know Twilight or its characters._  
 ___

 _Chapter 5 - Inhuman_

Rose and I stared at each other for a bit longer after she last spoke, but broke our glances we realized a few people around us were beginning to notice, including a confused looking Mike Newton. As the bell rang, Rose gave me another intense stare, and then quickly exited the room. I stared at her beautiful mane of hair until she disappeared out of my sightline - Mike quickly appeared by my side, looking at me questioningly. I rolled my eyes, and headed quickly towards the locker room. Hopefully I can make it through the next hour unscathed.

xXx

I returned home as quickly as I could after school ended, not even bothering to stare at the Cullen car as I pulled out of the parking lot. Today's encounter with Rosalie - or rather, Rose - had been both thrilling and deeply alarming. It was becoming very obvious to me that the attraction I had to her was not a normal, passing high school crush, but something much more powerful and all-consuming. There had been one or two girls in Phoenix that had caught my eye, but it was nothing even remotely resembling this. This seemed much more final, and that absolutely scares the shit out of me.

As I entered my house, I attempted to relax by re-reading Withering Heights for the 20th time. But like this morning, the novel is unable to distract my busy mind from the events of the day, and my nightmare. So, I rapidly forced myself to complete my limited amount of homework, before I resumed my reading attempts. When that failed, I glanced at the clock, and realized that Charlie would be home soon, and decided I may as well try to get a start on dinner.

"Hey, Bells," greeted Charlie, as he walked through the door. I nodded at him as I began to chop vegetables.

"What's up, Dad?

"Actually, Bella - can I ask you something?"

"Sure, dad - what is it?" Charlie began to fidget, looking unusually nervous. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Dad?"

"It's just…well, I was leaving work, and I ran into Mrs. Newton." Oh, dear God - what did this woman say to my father about her son? "And, well…she mentioned her son is slightly keen on you."

"Yes, he is, unfortunately." Charlie snorted and smiled.

"I take it the feeling is not mutual?"

"Extremely so. Yet he doesn't seem to get that. I can't believe he told his mother about me. I've been going out of my way to seem as disinterested as possible." I rolled my eyes as I said this. I'm going to have to find a way to let him down gently, soon. Or maybe not so gently.

"Well, good, Bella. You're still young - don't let a boy tied you down." I snorted and resumed slicing the vegetables."

"Dad, I can promise you there is no risk of me getting tied down by a boy." I tried to keep my emphasis on the last word at a minimum. Charlie gave me an appraising look, and nodded approvingly.

"Glad to hear it, Bells. So how was school?"

"Oh, nothing too eventful, it was a slow day over-SHIT!" I gasped as I accidentally sliced the side of my hand. Blood began to pour out onto the cutting board. Charlie's eyes bugged out of his head as he rushed over to me, grabbing the knife from my hand. Suddenly, it hit me - a repulsive smell, like rust and salt - blood. I felt my eyes begin to glaze over, as I swayed and began to fall, before I slipped into unconsciousness.

xXx

I didn't know where I was - I could hear voices talking near me, and I could smell something like cleaning supplies - bleach mixed in with something else. It was very clear that wherever I was, it was not my house. I began to sit up, still keeping my eyes shut, and I heard the voices stop. I opened my eyes, and was immediately overwhelmed by white light. Squinting, I saw the room begin to come into focus - it was a small, mostly white room, with medical equipment next to me. It appeared I had been brought to the hospital following my injury. I looked to my left and saw Charlie next to my bed, his eyes conveying a mixture of nervousness and relief.

"Thank God, Bella," he said as he pulled me into a tight hug, "you really gave me a scare there."

"Oh Dad, it's not that big a deal," I replied, attempting to inject humor into my voice, "you knew with my luck I'd end up in the hospital eventually. At least this time it was something minor."

"Are you planning on there being a next time?" Charlie's eyes narrowed. I sighed.

"I'm not planning on it, Dad, but with my luck being what it is, there's bound to be a next time. It's always better to be prepared."

"Your daughter is right about that, Chief Swan," said a strong, velvety voice off to my right. I turned and saw an astonishingly handsome man smiling at me. His hair was a light, sandy blonde, and his jawline looked like it could be used to slice granite. I slowly took in his other features; he has pale skin, prominent dark circles, and his eyes were a deep gold color. I knew immediately this had to be Dr. Cullen, Rose's father. It seemed unusual that his features were so similar to those of his "Adopted" children, but I brushed that thought away; I could deal with that later.

"You must be Doctor Cullen," I said, attempting a weak smile. Dr. Cullen looked surprised that I made the connection, but covered it up quickly with a smile.

"You're correct. I have to say, I had been hoping to meet you, Isabella, but I wish it had been nicer circumstances." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I prefer Bella, if you don't mind - and you were?" I replied, attempting to keep the surprise out of my voice.

"Yes, Bella. I had been hoping to have the chance to thank you for helping out Rosalie with her biology notes." He smiled warmly at me, in a distinctly paternal fashion.

"Rosalie?" asked Charlie, confusion coloring his expression. "Your daughter?"

"Yeah, she's in my biology class. She was out sick for a few days, so I gave Alice my notes for her to copy."

"Which one is Rosalie?"

"The beautiful one," I said without thinking. Upon hearing myself, I immediately blushed. "I mean…the blonde one. The beautiful blonde one." Charlie raised his eyebrows at me, but chose not to question my description.

"Yes, Chief Swan, she is my older daughter."

"Well, Bella, it was nice of you to help her out."

"It was no trouble, really; I was glad to help," I said, attempting to sound nonchalant. I looked back to Carlisle, who seemed to be attempting to hold back a laugh.

"Yes, well, she very much appreciated the help. Anyway, Bella," he continued, returning to a more professional demeanor, "that was a nasty cut you gave yourself, and it needed a few stitches. You should be alright for now, but make sure to avoid getting them wet for a while. In a week or two, I can come check up on you to make sure they're healing."

"Will I still be okay to use my hand?"

"Yes, but I'd recommend letting your father handle the cutlery from now on," he replied, mirth glistening in his eyes.

"That's what I was planning on, Dr. Cullen." Charlie walked over to him, and shook his hand. "Thanks for stitching up my girl. I hope she doesn't need it again in the future." I rolled my eyes as Dr. Cullen laughed.

"Okay, okay, enough jokes at my expense, I'd like to go home and get some rest, if that's alright." I got up and paused, before turning to Doctor Cullen, Suddenly, an idea came to me. I reached out my hand to grab his.

"Thank you, Doctor Cullen." He grabbed my hand and shook it. I was half expecting the cold temperature of his skin, but it was still so prominent and icy that I nearly shuddered. So, that was another thing he shared with his daughter (though, of course, his touch didn't seem to light a fire in my chest.)

"You're welcome, Bella. Be safe."

As we left the hospital, I thought again about Dr. Cullen and his children. There was truly something off about them, something that didn't make sense. For one, despite not being related, they all had very similar defining characteristics. Of course, in other ways, they really didn't look related, but they still had too much in common for it to be a coincidence. Not only that, but something seemed to be off about their ages; Alice and Edythe certainly looked like they belonged in high school, but Rose, Jasper and Emmett definitely didn't. As for Dr. Cullen, I'm not sure what his public age is, but he doesn't look like he can really be any older than 25 or 26 at the most. So how is he a doctor, and how does he have children.

But what was most confusing was the touch of his hand; it seemed impossible for me for someone to be that cold without being a corpse, or at least gravely ill. The Cullens may have perpetual dark circles, but they all look to beautiful and strong to be in such ill health. Unless they had some rare medical condition that altered their body chemistry, there was no logical explanation for their icy, marble like touch. There was something deeply unnatural about, something about it that bordered on inhuman.

 _"They're not human. None of them are."_ My instincts whispered to me, and I nearly let out a gasp. If they're not human, then what exactly are they?


	6. Ice

A/N: Again, I know I said I'd slow down, but I've had decent amounts of this story on the back-burner for a while - I will update more slowly once exams come around but I may as well make use of my leisure time while I have it.  
Anyway, I don't own twilight or its characters, all rights to Stephenie Myer, Etc.

 _Chapter 6 - Ice_

When I woke up, I took one look out my window, and groaned. There was another light layer of snow on the ground, and several layers of ice on our driveway and the roads. Today was not going to be an easy commute. Charlie had opted to put chains on my tires yesterday, just in case, to help with the weather, but I still wasn't looking forward to driving in this. It was a battle to get Charlie to even let me drive with my injured hand, but I refuse to be driven to school in a police car. I can tolerate some fatherly interference, but there is a line. While he may scare Mike Newton from bothering me in the morning, that in itself is not enough to make it any more of an appealing idea.

I also didn't want Charlie to drive because it would not allow me to stare so obviously at Rosalie Hale. I knew in my head that this obsession with Rose would not end well, and I knew that our interaction Friday was nothing more than friendly, but I still couldn't help but wonder about it, especially considering the way Mike, Angela and Jessica both reacted. Mike of course had been flabbergasted by watching Rosalie act civilly with me, but I was surprise by how curious Jessica and Angela were too. I had assumed the comments about Rosalie being icy were just Mike's way of coping with rejection, but apparently Angela and Jessica were just as surprised by her softness.

"Trust me, Bella, Rosalie Hale is not nice to anybody. I mean, really, most of the time she's a total bitch if you try to talk to her. I wonder makes you so special," mused Jessica, bitterly.

"I hate to admit it, but Rosalie does have sort of an ice queen vibe to her. Most of the guys who ask her out come away terrified, like they were just snarled at by a lioness," said Angela.

So, the ice queen smiled at me? Maybe it was a big deal, maybe it wasn't but if I allowed myself to speculate too much, I would drive myself crazy. Maybe I was already doing that.

xXx

Fortunately, the black ice that seemed to be covering the roads today seemed to be manageable enough for my truck, courtesy of Charlie's makeshift snow tires. I made a mental note to thank him for it later. I pulled into my usual parking space, the lot already full due to my slow pace when driving, and hastily climbed out of my truck, trying not to slip on the ice. I looked around to see if I could spot Rosalie, and there she was, four cars away from me, arguing with Edythe and Alice about something. Well, as long as Edythe wasn't glaring into my skull, I didn't have a problem.

Suddenly, an extremely loud screeching sound broke me from my reverie - a loud, piercing screeching sound, ominous and echoing. Everything around me seemed to slow down as I took in the scene. Alice, Edythe and Rose were all looking at me with pure terror on their faces. People around me seemed to be shouting loudly, though about what I couldn't hear. But of much greater importance was the large van that was suddenly speeding towards me, with no possibility of stopping. I was frozen to the spot, and couldn't move. Then it all happened at once.

I was quickly thrown backward, but not in the direction I expected. Logically, I should be pinned against the side of my truck right now, metal and glass piercing my skin and spilling my blood on the ice. Instead, I was on my back on the pavement, my arms and sides throbbing in a dull pain. My head was against the asphalt, throbbing but not too severely injured.A very cold arm was wrapped around my midsection, while the other was shoved against the side of the Van, holding it back. It skidded to a halt, just where I had been moments ago.

It was completely silent before people around me began screaming again. I could hear people shouting my name, but I couldn't move my focus beyond the fact that Rose had just saved my life. An unreadable expression was on her face as she looked down at me - it appeared to be equal parts rage and fear.

"Rose…?" My voice sounded weak as I struggled to lift myself up the pavement.

"Don't move," she said firmly, her voice commanding.

"I…" I could barely speak. I was so confused, so completely lost. "What happened?"

"You hit your head." she said, unfeelingly. I couldn't decide whether or not she sounded like she cared or not.

"Rose…how did you get here so fast?" I felt as though my head was spinning. Rosalie Hale had just stopped a speeding car with her bare hands - this was such an obvious display of inhumanity. Why would she risk something like this?

"I was standing right next to you, Bella." Rose was looking equal parts terrified and infuriated. "Don't ask such stupid questions. I'm pretty sure you hit your head."

"I did not hit my head, and you were not standing next to me - you were continuing your usual pattern of giving me withering stares from across the parking lot." I snapped. Perhaps this wasn't the time for rudeness - she had technically saved my life. Rosalie let out an infuriated sigh, and placed her hand over my mouth.

"As far as anyone is concerned, I was standing right next to you and pulled you out of the way. You are free to think whatever you like, but that is what you will tell people. Do you understand?" I didn't responded and her eyes grew darker, her face becoming angrier. "Do you understand, Bella?" I nodded. "Good. Now we need to get you some medical attention." She called over to the students that were hanging around Tyler's van, and I was suddenly being hoisted up, annoyingly, by Mike Newton.

"Jesus Christ Bella, you scared us all, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mike, just a little battered and bruised." I rolled my eyes, having no desire to be fussed over. Angela appeared, mercifully, to distract us both.

"Don't worry Bella, Jessica called 911 already and they're on their way. What happened?"

"I was standing next to my truck when I saw him coming towards me, but…." I spared a glance at Rosalie, who was resuming her habit of deliberately avoiding my gaze, "But Rosalie was standing next to me and pulled me out of the way." I nodded at Rosalie, who spied us all a glance to acknowledge this, before walking away from us.

xXx

After talking Mike out of accompanying me in the ambulance, I arrived at the hospital and was quickly turned over to, you guessed it, Doctor Cullen. He placed me in a bed in the emergency room, and quickly exited, sending a nurse to look after me. She been to take my vitals, while I attempted not to seethe with annoyance; I nearly failed when they put me in a neck brace. The second the nurse left the room, I removed the ridiculous thing, and sat to quietly ponder what had just transpired. Of course, the brace was placed quickly back on me, and I was wheeled away to be subjected to some X Rays, all while an extremely nervous Charlie hovered nearby, constantly asking Dr. Cullen questions.

I was quickly returned to the room I had been in previously, where I came face to face with an extremely guilty looking Tyler Crowley. I rolled my eyes as he apologized, ensuring him it really wasn't his fault and I wasn't angry. I honestly just wanted this whole exercise to be over soon just so I could go back to school and pretend none of this ever happened. I would try to ignore the day's events, and just mentally add Rosalie Hale's inhuman strength to the list of qualities that separated her from humans.

"Bella, are sure you're okay?" Asked my Dad, again.

"I am perfectly fine, Dad, trust me. I think if I was on the brink of death I'd feel much less pissed off," I grumbled. He laughed weakly, but I could tell he was still really worried.

"Bella, really, I'm so sorry—" began Tyler.

"You don't have to keep apologizing, it was an accident, it's not your fault."

"Well, my daughter may feel that way, but I don't," snarled Charlie. "You can kiss that license goodbye for the time being, young man."

"Jesus, Dad, take it down a notch," I groaned, "everything's fine, so turn off Cop mode for the time being.

"How are you feeling, Miss Swan?" asked a velvet voice from beside me.

"I'm perfectly fine, Doctor Cullen." I sighed. "I'd be a lot worse off if it weren't for Rose."

"Rosalie? Dr. Cullen's daughter?" asked Charlie, confused.

"Yeah, she was standing next to me, and she pulled me out of the way before I could get hurt." I replied. Carlisle looked puzzled for a moment, but smiled and gave me a slight nod.

"I'm glad Rosalie was there too, Miss Swan."

"So, can I leave now?" I asked, hope in my voice.

"Yes, I recommend you go back home to rest for the day."

"Can't I just go back to school?" I groaned.

"I'd recommend resting, Bella. You can return to school, tomorrow," said Dr. Cullen, his tone making clear this was an order. "Take some tylenol if you feel any pain."

"I'll be fine," I said, getting up. Charlie rushed over to me to steady me, but waved him off and began to walk out of the room. I got out of the door, turned to the right, and spotted Rosalie; she was having another hurried argument with Alice, although this time Jasper was the third party involved, and not Edythe.

"Rose?" I called. Her eyes snapped over to me. They were dark again, her facial expression unreadable. "Can I go talk to you - somewhere more private?" I looked at my dad, and he nodded. Rose didn't acknowledge me, but walked towards me, and followed as I lead her down the hall.

xXx

Once we were in a private hallway. I noticed right away that her demeanor was not the pleasant one I had experienced last Friday. There was no tentative smile on her face, no nervousness or vulnerability. This was pure, hardened bitch. I had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to go the way I wanted it to, but I had to try.

"Rose, look - I know you're different." No response. "Look, I'm not going to tell anyone what happened, I'll stick to the public story, but I want something, some sort of answer from you."

"No," she said, without any trace of emotion in her voice, "I can't give you that. I won't do that."

"Why not, Rose?"

"Because I can't. Did you not listen to what I just told you? I can't tell you anything." She was deliberately not making eye contact with me. I sighed.

"So that's your answer?"

"Yes, it is."

"That's not good enough, sorry. 'Because I can't' is not going to cut it with me, Rose." I tried to stay firm, but I lost my strength under the weight of her scowl. She was glaring directly into my eyes now, every feature on her face conveying a message of 'You are beneath me.'

"Well, I'm guess you're going to have to live with it."

"Again, Rose - not good enough."

"Don't be such a child."

"I'm not," I whined. Okay, not helping my case there.

"I cannot tell you anything/ Why can't you just take that information, thank me for being your 'savior' or whatever else our idiot classmates will be calling me, and go on with your life?" She was getting worked up now, the edge of her lip curling to show a set of extremely sharp teeth.

"I don't understand why you bothered saving me if you're just going to behave like this." I said, trying to keep my irritation out of my voice.

"That's just it - you don't understand. You can't possibly understand." sneered Rosalie. She looks truly terrifying - her eyes were swimming with rage and some other unidentifiable emotion.

"You can't know that unless I tell you?"

"I Can. Not. Tell. You." She was truly snarling at me now, her lips curled.

"Why?"

'Why can you not just accept the responses that I'm giving you, you stupid girl? Why must you pester and pester me? Can't you see that I don't WANT to tell you? How foolish are you?" I winced involuntarily. I knew that I was pissing her off, but this level of cruelty.

"Then why didn't you just let the van crush me, then? Why not just let me die so you can resume your life unaffected by my 'foolishness,' as you call it?" I was getting close to shouting. Her eyes narrowed, and a flash of pain appeared on her face, before it hardened back into her icy scowl.

"I'm beginning to ask myself the same question, Isabella. Its better for both of us if you stop asking questions. It's absolutely better for you." Without another word, she turned around and stomped away. Alice appeared at the end of the hallway, looking furious. Rose snarled something at her and walked past her without a word. I didn't understand this Rose - she had been so different on Friday. She had been almost friendly - still distant, but not entirely icy. And now here she is berating me in a hospital, implying that I should have died. I can try to ignore it, but there's no denying this hurts.

The hurt must have been showing on my face because I saw Alice staring at me from the end of the hallway. She quickly made her way to me, her face apologetic. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a slightly too tight embrace.

"I'm sorry for that. Rose is a good, lovable person at her core, but she's so used to playing the bitch to protect herself that it gets out of hand sometimes. I promise she'll be kinder to you in the future."

"She hates me, Alice," I said. I could feel the burning sensation of tears forming in my eyes, but I held them back.

"Bella, I promise you that isn't the case. That's just how she is. I know things will work out for you. I know it." She pulled out of the hug, smiled at me, and briefly kissed my cheek. I was stunned - her lips were just as cold as the rest of her. Well, now that makes three unnaturally cold Cullens. She smiled at me again and walked away, shouting over her shoulder "We'll be great friends very soon Bella, just not right now!" Well, that's helpful. There's no possible way she can know that. And frankly, I have neither the time no energy to contemplate how. All I wanted to do was go home, lie down, and sleep so I could forget about the insanity of today's events.

xXx

"I mean, God, Bella, what if that girl hadn't been there, I mean you could be dead, do you have any idea how scared-"

"Mom, for the fortieth time, I'm not dead, I didn't die, so there's no reason for us to think like that, is there?" I sighed. Charlie had, somewhat stupidly chosen to call Renee and tell her about the accident, not thinking about the reaction it would provoke in her. I had spent nearly half an hour trying to convince her I was perfectly safe, and that she didn't need to fly out from Phoenix to visit me.

"I know honey, but still. It scares me, you're my baby and I can't lose me."

"You won't, Mom. Now, please, for my sanity, please just try to calm down." She laughed briefly, and sighed.

"Well, beyond what happened today, how are things in dreary old Forks? You haven't mentioned any friends by name in your emails to me."

"I've made a few friends, Mom, none who are really worth noting. They're nice enough, but its only been a week - I haven't exactly had time to get close to anyone here."

"Yes but still, you must have met some people. Any nice guys? Any girls that you want to tell me about?" I involuntarily let out a groan.

"Mom, I don't want to talk about the girls here."

"Ah, so there are girls you're interested in? Or is just one? What's her name? What's she look like?"

"Mom, I don't need the Spanish Inquisition right now. There's not...there's no one here I know to be gay."

"That doesn't mean there's no one there you're attracted to." I sighed again. "What about the girl that saved you from the accident. Charlie said you and her were friends.

"Yeah. Just friends. I think." I realized before the words left my mouth that that sounded far too wistful.

"Ohhh, but you _wish_ it were different, then? What's her name?"

"Mom, her name is Rose, but I promise you things aren't like that between us. She doesn't even really like me that much."

"She saved you from death, Bella."

"That doesn't mean she's attracted to me, it just means she would prefer it if I wasn't dead," I replied, laughing a little at myself.

"Well, at least that's a start, isn't it?" said Renee, laughing with me.

"I guess. Unfortunately, the only people/person who seem to be interested me are male and very clearly not seem to get that I do not return their interest. Maybe I should just write 'Lesbian' on my forehead in Sharpie so they'll take a hint."

"Oh, dear, I'm sure you can handle it yourself. Besides, attention is flattering, isn't it?"

"There's a fine line between flattery and annoyance, Mom." She snorted on the other end of the line. "Look, Mom, I should probably get to bed soon. I am pretty tired - near death experiences do that to me."

We said our goodbyes and hung up, and then I collapsed onto my bed. There was too much for me to think of, too much to ponder, too much in my head. So, the Cullens definitely were not human, that much seemed clear. On top of that, Rosalie seemed to have reverted to hating everyone in Forks, which now included me, apparently. The thought of that caused a hole to open up in my chest and pulse with pain. I shuddered, attempting to make the sensation go away, but nothing seemed to do it. My chest felt cold and hollow, like a someone had carved out a piece of my sternum and filled it with ice. I sighed mentally, and tried to focus on what Alice had said. Alice, such an enigma and an oddity. She claimed to have knowledge of a hypothetical future friendship between us, and also seemed to be fully aware of my attraction to her sister. Her sister...the hole in my chest throbbed again, and I shut my eyes. Today was too much. Life was too much.

I laid there in bed, with my eyes shut, trying to will myself into sleep. The last thing I felt before I drifted into unconsciousness was another surge of ice in my chest.


	7. Dangerous

_A/N: I don't own Twilight or its characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer. This is purely what has emerged from the mind of myself and a bottle of wine.  
_ ___

 _Chapter 7 - Dangerous:_

I was standing in an unfamiliar room; it was wide, and empty, the floors made of a beautiful wood, while the walls were a pale, eggshell-like white. There where large windows occasionally on the walls, breaking up the white with views of a verdant forest outside. This was another place I had never been before, and this one felt much, much more ominous. In one corner of the room, blood was smeared on the wall; in the other, a small fire was burning and emitting a foul smelling purple. I heard no sounds, other than my own heartbeat. Suddenly, I felt an extremely cold breath graze across my ear, and I shivered. A pair of strong, icy hands clutched my throat, and pulled me backwards. My instincts began to shout _"DANGEROUS"_ on a continuous loop, but I couldn't run, it's as though I was unable to move from the spot I was win, as the cold hands began to slowly turn me around. I was looking back into a pair of bright red eyes, and I opened my mouth to scream.

I awoke at 6am, again panting and drenched in sweat, but there were no golden eyes in my room tonight. For some reason, I again felt I was in grave danger.

xXx

The very moment I arrived in school, I was bombarded with the same questions, over and over and over again. The story of Tyler's accident had traveled quickly, and people were desperate to know what few details I could give them. I answered their questions with what I hoped was a relaxed tone, but slowly failed to be relaxed after around person number 50 or 51, and I became increasingly sarcastic. "Yes, it was an accident. Yes, Rosalie Hale pulled me out of the way. No, I don't know any of the Cullens that well. No, my dad has not put Tyler in jail, he's literally 20 feet away from you right now. No, I currently have no plans to move to avoid him, but I'll let you know when time comes."

By the time lunchtime came around, I was so exhausted that I purchased my food and quickly slipped out of the cafeteria, heading off to eat my food int he library, which was no exactly allowed but not exactly forbidden. Unfortunately, once I was finished with my food, I was again accosted by an overeager student, so I quickly left the library and retreated to the bathroom for the duration of the lunch period. I could have returned to the cafeteria, hypothetically, but after Friday's disaster with Lauren, I still wasn't certain if I was welcome back at the table yet or at all. This was no big loss in the long run, but I did really like Angela, and it's better to have a few friends than none at all. Today, I decided I couldn't face it.

And all through this, the throbbing pit of ice in my chest never went away. It was mostly a dull, quiet pain, but I noticed it frequently, despite my attempts not to think about it. It was as though something was…missing, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. I sighed, and waited for the time to pass.

xXx

I chose not to be early to Biology today, thus allowing myself to avoid more questions I didn't wish to answer again. I arrived just before the bell was about to ring, and hurried to my seat, deliberately not looking at anyone's faces. The second I sat down, I very strangely felt better. It was as if the hole in my chest began to evaporate, and I felt strangely calm. A warming sensation spread through me, and I instantly relaxed, letting out a light sigh. I knew I shouldn't feel this comfortable, especially around someone who had essentially told me to go fuck myself the day before, but it was a totally involuntary response. I looked over at Rose, to see if she was exhibiting anything similar to what I was feeling; she wasn't of course, she was ignoring me deliberately, but it was still worth checking. I wondered if I would get any response out of her today, or if it would be like yesterday all over again.

 _"Something in between,_ " said my instincts. Well, that's better than nothing, I suppose.

"Hi." I said, not expecting much. Rosalie didn't even bother looking at me. I sighed and turned away. "Well, that's expected, but still unpleasant," I muttered. I heard Rose make a noise that was halfway between a growl and a laugh, and looked at her. She was still pointedly looking away from me. "Do I amuse you, Rose?"

"On the contrary, Bella, you are one of the most excruciating people I've ever met."

"God, you always know just what to say, don't you?" I snapped back at her, bitter sarcasm lacing my voice. Rosalie glared back at me for a few moments, before looking away. As I turned back to my notebook, I could have sworn I heard a small, stifled laugh.

"I liked you better last week," I whispered to myself. It seemed clear Rosalie was determined to remain bitchy, so I may as well get used to it. Suddenly, I heard a chair shift, and without warning, someone's cool breath was agains my ear.

"That was your mistake, Bella; you shouldn't like me at all," she whispered into my ear. I knew I should respond, but with Rose so close to my face, I couldn't think clearly. I inhaled sharply, and her scent filled my lungs; it was the most the most intoxicating thing I'd ever smell, like a brilliant floral perfume. It was like a combination of lilies, violets and…something else that I couldn't place, something with a cooling effect. I shuddered involuntarily, and began to feel the electric current in spreading my through my veins, as well as a strange heat at the pit of my stomach. And then suddenly, she was gone. I shuddered again, and attempted to turn my brain back on. I looked back at Rosalie, who was looking at the front of the room, hiding a small smirk.

"Ah, so that's today's game, let's see how incoherent we can make the human? Well I'm not playing. And by the way, I never wanted to like you, I just do, so don't snap at me just because you find me 'excruciating.'" Slightly harsher than anything I would normally say, but I suppose she deserved it after yesterday. At least today she was calling me Bella, though. I tried to get a read on her facial expression, but her face was once again carefully blank. What was wrong with this girl, exactly? Had I done something to personally offend her? Was my very existence so grating that merely looking at me caused her unspeakable suffering? Also, why does she smell so good, because no one smells that good; she either douses herself in perfume every morning, or she just naturally is like that, which just means she's even more impossibly perfect than I thought possible.

 _"It's her natural smell. It's part of her lure."_ Well, that wasn't particularly helpful, but at least it answered my question.

It was at that moment that I looked out the window, and had to stifle a scream. There was an extremely pale woman standing off at the edge of the trees, with pale skin, red eyes and orange hair; I immediately knew it was the creature from my dream. She was staring at me, a chilling smile on her face, as she waved at me. My instincts said a single word: _"Dangerous."_ And I immediately wanted to get up and run right then. But the next second, she was gone. I stared, blankly out the window for a few moments, vaguely registering that Mr. Banner had started speaking, before I turned back to my notebook and tried to focus again, but I kept failing to do so. The woman from my dream is real, what does that tell me? Well, either I'm completely losing my mind, or this woman is so dangerous to me that my instincts gave me even more info than usual, in the form of confusing night terrors. Somehow, without help, I knew it was the second, and this terrified me even more.

xXx

After the bell rang for gym and the school day to be over, I lingered in the locker room. I didn't want to face either the Cullens or Mike Newton in the parking lot. I also didn't want to run the risk of meeting the redhead, who I highly doubt I'd be able to outrun if it really came down to it. I waited until I heard the sounds of chattering in the halls die down, and then I exited the locker room. The halls were empty, too empty, unnaturally empty. I immediately sensed something was off, and I looked behind me. I saw a flash of red behind me, and heard a door slam. My instincts kicked into overdrive, shouting _"Dangerous"_ at me, while also telling me _"Run, and don't stop running, if you pause it's too late."_ I obeyed and began sprinting down the halls, not bothering to grab my what was left in my locker, not bothering to see if anyone else had showed up, not looking to make sure I didn't run into anything...

Almost immediately I collided with what felt like a very large, firm wall. I began to fall, but some very strong arms wrapped themselves around me and caught me. I blinked trying to steady my focus, and looked up to see Emmett Cullen looking at me with a bemused expression.

"Wow, Bella, you should really be more careful," he said. His voice was deep, but he had a distinctly playful undertone to it. Once I was steady on my feet, I looked at him, and smiled.

"Sorry, yeah - I was just trying to…get away from something, I guess." Emmett looked confused, before a look of comprehension dawned on his face. I paused, and then asked him, "You know about the redhead don't you?" Emmett shuffled his feet and looked at the ground.

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that."

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," I sighed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you any questions beyond that, since I know you won't answer them, but I do want to verify that the redhead isn't in the building anymore."

"No, she's gone, I think I scared her off."

"Well, good, at least one of you Cullens is useful for something besides giving me cryptic warnings." Emmett guffawed at that.

"Yeah, sorry about that; we'd tell you more, but we really can't. Honestly, I'm not supposed to even be talking to you." I raised an eyebrow. "Edythe's orders, sorry." I rolled my eyes.

"Ah, yes, your girlfriend with perpetual brooding glare; by the way, why does she always look so pissed off at me? Is it specific to me or is that everyone?" Emmett laughed again, a deep, hearty laugh.

"Oh, that, yeah it's just you. I can't really explain why, but trust me, the answer is hilarious. Edie's usually not like that, though; you're an exception. She's really awesome most of the time, but..."

"Yeah, I'm different. I guess I'm just especially good at pissing off the Cullen women, excluding Alice, of course." I sighed, trying not to sound too forlorn, but utterly failing. Emmett gave me a sympathetic look, and patted my head. Usually, something like that would feel condescending and piss me off, but with Emmett it seemed very brotherly, almost.

"Hey, sorry about Rose; I promise, she's really not that bad once you get to know her. She'll be nicer to you eventually."

"Did Alice tell you that?" I asked. Emmett looked surprised, and laughed.

"Yeah, she did. You really are an observant little human; I can see why Alice thinks we shouldn't be keeping you in the dark."

"Yeah, I'm only like…50% in the dark at this point. I know you guys aren't human, but I haven't put it all together yet. I can't say for sure that I will, but..." I trailed off

"Yeah somehow, I think you will. Alice does, too, and no one likes to argue with her; trust me, the little pixie is rarely wrong."

"Well, if Alice says, I will, then I will. At least, if the redhead doesn't kill me first." Emmett frowned at that.

"How do you know about her?" he asked. I debated what to tell him; certainly couldn't tell him the truth, and say "Oh, well I've had several dreams about, and I possess a sort of ability that allows me to know things that I shouldn'y." Well, I suppose I could tell him the last part, but I didn't want to give out too much info on myself. I trusted Emmett, more than any of the other Cullens, but revealing too much about my instincts seemed like a bad idea. _"It is, for now."_

"Truthfully, Emmett, I can't tell you; I just have a way of knowing shit, I suppose. Although it's not hard to put together, red-eyed woman equals danger is pretty obvious. You could say I have good instincts, I guess. Granted, those instincts aren't strong enough that I can prevent myself from tripping or being almost crushed to death by a van, but still." He laughed again, but then looked serious.

"Yeah, Bella; she is really dangerous. I can't say why, but you need to be careful. Got it?" I nodded, and he smiled. "Good. We can't have you dying before Rose finally stops being stubborn." I laughed.

"Thanks, Emmett, I think." And then surprising both Emmett and myself, I wrapped my arms around him, and pulled him into a hug. He didn't react for a moment, but he quickly returned the hug. Again, the gesture should have been strange, but it again felt strangely brotherly and natural. I barely even noticed his cold skin. We pulled apart, and Emmett gave me a wide grin.

"You're gonna be fun to have around, Bella, I can feel it." And then, just like that, he sprinted away, slow enough to be in the realm of human speed, but fast enough that I was able to notice how unusual it was. I shouted after him, "You know, that was still too fast for a human, you should really be better at this!"

"I'll try, Bella!" I laughed, and relaxed. If Emmett had scared away the redhead for the time being, then it was probably safe enough for me to get my things and go out to the parking lot like a normal person. When I got out there, I saw the Cullen car, and most of the other cars, were gone, but Emmett and Edythe seemed to be having an argument by the edge of the woods. Okay, so they don't need cars to get home, apparently. Well, that makes sense, I guess. Or rather, it doesn't make sense, but with everything else that's weird about the Cullens, it sort of fits.

xXx

I returned home from school to find Charlie waiting for me. He told me not to bother making dinner because he was planning to order takeout, so I went upstairs to my room, and collapsed on my bed. So far, this week I had been snarled at twice by Rosalie Hale, had escaped death once thanks to Rosalie Hale, and was now potentially being hunted by a mysterious redhead, who the Cullens somehow knew about. I sighed, and decided it was time to do something I hadn't done since age 8; I was going to make a list of details to try to determine what exactly was different about the Cullens. I did this when I was 8 out of an attempt to determine what exactly my instincts were; the list was small, and it boiled down to four things:

 _1\. Knows information before I do_

 _2\. Said information usually comes in handy for bad situations, whether they may be minor or major_

 _3\. Only gives me info when my regular brain can't decide what to do, and seems to need assistance._

 _4\. Whenever I try to explain it to other people, they appear alarmed or think I'm crazy_

Granted, I wasn't as wordy when I was young, but it was essentially the same stuff. I, of course, came to no other real conclusion, other than they were useful, but no other person seemed to have them but me. When I was eight, my solution was magic powers; in middle school, that evolved to me having some sort of genetic quirk of mutation. And now, well, I haven't decided what they are, beyond useful, albeit a bit annoying. If I were to make the list again, I'd add that my instincts also show up less frequently now than they used to - they allow me, more often than they used to, to occasionally make mistakes. I was both annoyed by this and appreciated it on some level; it was annoying, at age 12, having some invisible voice pop into my head every 15 minutes to whisper advice or warn me which people were safe to be friends with and which ones weren't. At any rate, I still feel very alone on this subject, and no amount of vague paranormal internet research could help.

However, it seems to me that I may not be the only person who has…something like this. Alice definitely seems to have knowledge she couldn't possibly have without some sort of instincts, or gift of some kind. At the very least, she definitely has some ability that makes her different from the other Cullens.  
I felt that if I compiled this information all together, it may trigger some sort of breakthrough for me. Or rather, it might at least help to get all this craziness out on a piece of paper, so I could see it all in one place. I began to write my list, and by the time I was done, I had eight items:

 _1\. Cold skin_

 _2\. Yellow eyes, sometimes change color_

 _3\. Very strong_

 _4\. Very fast_

 _5\. Don't seem to eat (I don't know how i never noticed)_

 _6\. Alice knows shit she shouldn't_

 _7\. Edythe is perpetually broody (this may not be relevant, but it's true)_

 _8\. They know the red-eyed woman._

Then, my instinct provided me with item number 9: _"The red-eyed woman is one of them, but more dangerous."_


	8. Victoria

_A/N: A bit of a longer wait, but hopefully its worth it._  
 _I do not own Twillight or it's characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer, etc._

Chapter 8 - Victoria

The rest of the week passed in a very mundane way. People continued to ask questions, I continued to respond sarcastically, the ice in my chest was a constant pain, and Rosalie Hale seemed to determined to avoid looking at me. If I was just annoying enough, I could earn a glare, which for some reason was enough for me to feel slightly better, and for the ice to dim. But she was still barely talking to me, and she was showing none of the vulnerability I had been fortunate to witness last Friday. I wondered if that was a fluke.

More troublingly, while I didn't see the redheaded woman any more, I could still feel her presence. I never caught her with my eyes, but I could feel myself suddenly tensing up frequently throughout the day, and I would continuously look out the window to the woods. She never appeared. The dreams were still the same, still confusing and violent, but in the daytime I never saw her. I was worried I'd end up alone in a hallway, and she'd finally catch me, but it never happened. There always seemed to be a Cullen lurking nearby in the halls whenever I would begin to feel nervous about her presence; they were keeping a close watch on her and me, and I appreciated it, even if I didn't understand why they were doing it. Alice and Emmett were still the most friendly; Jasper remained very stoic, and Edythe continued to glare at me as though she hoped the force of her stare would split open my skull and allow her to unspool my brains.

By the time Saturday came, I was emotionally exhausted. Charlie seemed concerned, but he seemed to place all the blame on the incident with the van. I did nothing to assuage him of this notion, as I couldn't possibly tell him the truth. He was still worried either way, but he was willing to do anything to make me happy; hence, why he agreed to allow me to go to Port Angeles alone this Saturday. I was in desperate need of some new books, and the city held 4 bookstores of varying sizes. Of course, this held no interest for Charlie, and he would be working all day, anyways. However, he did mention he was planning to head down to La Push to visit the Clearwaters on Sunday, and he insisted I come with him. I had only very vague memories of Leah Clearwater from my youth, but it seemed like it would be a pleasant experience all the same.

When I woke up on Saturday, however, something immediately seemed wrong. The pain in my chest was still present, but it was nothing compared to the chaos of my mind. My instincts were going haywire, trying to warn me; it was a chanted mantra in my mind, stating _"If you go to Port Angeles, something will happen. If you to Port Angeles, something will happen."_ I was usually not one to ignore my instincts, but I was so desperate to get out of the house, and to distract myself from the fact that I was, essentially being hunted by a redheaded "monster," that I tossed the thoughts aside. My instincts didn't shut up all morning, but I just ignored them. I needed to leave the house, and I doubted anything too dangerous would happen that couldn't be prevented or avoided. The chanting n my mind didn't stop at all throughout the entire drive.

xXx

I arrived at Port Angeles at noon, and I chose to stop in the largest bookstore first; it was a very commercial place, complete with a small café and a large children's section. Generic, but it would be a good place to get hold of some new releases, if I was lucky. I had spent a solid half an hour browsing, when I ran directly into Angela Weber. She smiled, and gave me a brief hug.

"Hi, Bella; are you here by yourself?" she asked.

"Yeah, I needed some new reading material, and Charlie isn't a big reader," I replied. She snorted. Suddenly, Jessica appeared behind her, smiling a very large, very fake grin at me.

"Hi, Bella. You're lucky you showed up right now; Lauren is in the bathroom." I groaned in exasperation. Of course the three of them are out chopping together. I seriously can't fathom why Angela hangs out with these too.

"She's still not thrilled with me, I take it? Still the lunch thing?" I asked. Jessica snickered and rolled her eyes.

"Well, there's that, and the fact that Tyler seems to have decided that the best way to "make things right" is to ask you out. He was going to do it today but you left very quickly." Jessica seems very amused by this, as does Angela.

"Oh, God; yeah, i'll need to find a polite way to turn him. Seriously, who in their right mind decides the way to apologize for almost killing you is dinner and a movie?" I asked rhetorically. Angela is still laughing.

"I told you she'd react like that," snickered Angela. "Yeah, he's really not my type," I sigh out.

"And what is your type, Bella?" asked Jessica, far too eager for the answer. I sigh.

"Not anyone who seems to be interested me here, at any rate."

"So Mike…?" asked Jessica again. Angela rolled her eyes at her obviousness.

"Also not my type." I sigh.

"You should probably tell him that, then," laughs Angela.

"Yeah, well, I didn't realize making my dating preferences known in town would be necessary, but it seems like it will be."

"Preference? Meaning what?" Jessica is on a roll today.

"Meaning that I'd be more inclined to date Mike if he was named Mikayla and had tits." Jessica looks shocked, Angela doesn't.

"Wait, so you're…?" Jessica trails off.

"Yes, Jessica, I am," I say, rolling my eyes. "I haven't spread it around because even though my mom knows, it's never come up with my dad and I'm not 100% sure how he'll take it. Most likely he'll be relieved that I can't get pregnant, but still - Forks is a small town."

"Oh, it's not that small, Bella," sighed Angela. "Also, if you don't want it getting out, maybe try to stare less at Rosalie Hale." I gasped, and she winked. "Yes Bella, I noticed. I'm pretty observant when I need to be."

"Well that's just great," I grumbled. Angela and Jessica snickered.

"Don't worry, Bella, we won't spread it around. Even though it might be fun to watch how Mike handles rejection." said Angela, laughing. Jessica seemed less amused.

"Oh relax, Jessica," I sighed, "I'm really not into him. Lesbian, remember?" Thankfully, Jessica laughed and nodded.

"I get it, Bella; and don't worry, we won't tell Lauren. Knowing her, she'd guarantee it made it to your Dad," she sighed.

"Why do you two hang out with her, exactly?" I asked

"We really don't know, Bella. We really don't."

I decided it was time to slip away before Lauren came back, and I began waling down the street again.

xXx

The larger bookstores proved mostly useless to me in finding what I wanted. However, the fourth and smallest bookstore was adorable, and contained many unusual and unique editions of some of my favorite classics, and I ended up spending a full two hours in there. By the time I was done, it was 7 pm, and it was growing very dark outside. I made my purchases, and quickly exited the store. I was only a brief 20 minute walk from my car, and I began my trek down the confusing streets.

Almost immediately, my instincts went haywire. I wanted to ignore them, but then I felt something. I turned around, and though I didn't see the woman, I knew she was nearby. I began to run, panting, as my instincts screamed in my head, _"Dangerous, run away, dangerous, run away, don't stop running,"_ on an endless loop, and I knew I was getting lost, but I didn't care. I just knew I had to get away before the woman caught me, even if it a pointless effort, even if she would catch me eventually, I had to try. I looked at the street signs, and reoriented myself, turning to the right, running in the direction I hoped was toward my car, but I didn't know at this point. My breath was coming fast, and the street lamps were beginning to melt into a blur or black and orange as I ran past them. And then, just my luck, I tripped on the sidewalk and collapsed on my face.

And then she was there. I knew it. A pair of simple, black heels appeared directly in front of my face on the ground, and I screamed.

"Stand up. Now." The voice was higher than I expected; not at all the low, menacing tone I had imagined in my dreams. There was something childlike to its quality, but this just reinforced the terror I felt. Her voice was almost melodic in its faux innocence, like a siren who means to kill the victim she lures to her. I looked up from the ground and saw the redheaded woman, smiling broadly down at me, her red eyes glistening in the dim street lights. II stumbled to my feet; logically, I shouldn't listen to the woman, but I don't exactly have any other options. I steadied myself and looked at the woman. She stepped towards me, and I froze in my spot. She was so close that I could feel her breath on my face, as she wrapped her arms around my torso.

"Ah, Isabella," purred the redhead, "we are finally able to meet. You don't know how long i've been waiting for this moment." I shivered involuntarily, and the redhead laughed. "Good, I'm glad you're frightened. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you today. Your are far too potent to waste." My brain was barely functioning.

"Who…who are you?" I managed to stutter out. She laughed again.

"I suppose it is only fair that you know my name; you can call me Victoria." She sighed and leaned her face towards my neck, tightening her grip on my torso. She inhaled deeply, and let out a a deep sigh.

"I'm going to have to let you go soon. It seems your protectors are on your way, but don't worry; this isn't over yet." Victoria shifted her face so that her lips were brushing against my ear. I was shaking so violently that I was convinced I was going to explode at any moment. "I promise you I'll be back, Bella; I can't kill you now, because I'd have to move quickly, and I intend for you to suffer immensely. Until we meet again." And just like that, she was gone. Her grip on me disappeared so suddenly that I fell backwards.

Victoria. Her name was Victoria. Her name was Victoria, and she wants to kill me. These three sentences repeated over and over again in my mind like a condemning mantra. My instincts were going haywire, as though it was angry at me for ignoring them, scolding me for my stupidity. My mind was in such overdrive I barely noticed that I was still shaking and my breaths were becoming shallow. I tried to steady myself, but I failed, becoming overcome with gasps and shudders.

I vaguely registered someone shouting my name nearby, but I couldn't move. I was firmly glued to the spot, shaking, the hole in chest practically vibrating, when I immediately calmed. I looked up and saw Rose looking down at me, an unreadable expression of panic on her face. Without thinking, I threw my arms around her legs and clung to her waist, breathing in her beautifully floral scent. The electricity was flowing through my veins, warming my chest, relaxing me fully. I felt peaceful, and safe. I looked back up at Rose's face, and she looked confused and slightly uncomfortable. My guess is she's not used to emotions and affection; I wonder why.

 _"Something like that, yes, but don't ask about it. She doesn't fully trust you yet."_ I immediately untangled myself from her legs, and and stood up. He expression quickly changed from confusion, to fear, to fury.

"Why were you walking out here, all alone, at night? Do you have any idea how stupid an idea this is? Do you have any idea how hard it is to protect you when we're in a city this big? If we had been any later, you would have been dead!" she shouted in my face. "Are you just so deliberately, blissfully ignorant that you'll ignore the fact that a redheaded killer is after you and just leave it all up to chance?" The furious ice queen was back, and her eyes were once again black with fury.

"I…I guess I just didn't think."

"Oh, you guess? You guess you didn't think? It's pretty obvious from our perspective that you didn't. At all," she snarled. Her lip curled, displaying her terrifyingly sharp teeth.

"She may be behaving harshly, but she's right, Bella. You need to be less reckless in your actions," said another voice. I turned and saw Alice looking at me with a mixture of disapproval and relief on her face. "It was a really close call, tonight, Bella. It was far, far too close.

"I'm sorry. I just really didn't think. I mean, she's gone for now, though." I muttered. I'm really never sure of what to say to Rosalie, but this is the wrong thing, and she gets even more agitated.

"Yes, she's gone NOW but she'll be back, again. It's her pattern. Do you have any idea how taxing it is to try to keep track of her movements? Do you have any idea how tough it is for us to watch you 24/7?"

"I'm sorry, but how is it my fault that I'm being hunted by a redheaded psychopath?" I responded, getting angrier. I appreciated the protection, but I'm not an idiot, and this side of Rosalie really pisses me off.

"I'm not saying its your fault you are being hunted, I'm suggesting you try being more careful and try to develop a stronger sense of self preservation. You could at least try to be less careless," sneered Rosalie.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I apologize for my inability to outrun the inhuman bitch who wants to kill me." I glared at Rosalie, and Rosalie glared back. Alice snorted, and began to laugh. Rosalie turned her glare on the pixie, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh don't be such a killjoy, Rose, she's right - this really isn't her fault," said Alice. Rosalie scoffed, but didn't argue. "Bella, you should probably be more careful, though."

"I know. It is my fault for coming here - I had this…feeling something bad would happen, but Ignored it. I just wanted to get out of the house," I said, almost pleading with Rose to calm down. Rose sighed, and shook her head in an exasperated manner.

"You just need to be more careful, for…all of us. We can't always be around like this." sighed Rose. It dawned on me - how had they found me? How did they know where I would be?

"We were tracking Victoria's scent and it began to mix with yours as you were walking, so we became very concerned and followed. We almost arrived too late," sighed Alice, worriedly. Wait…how did she know what I would ask.

" _She sees things,_ " whispered my instincts. Things…as in visions? Of the future?

"You can see the future?" I asked, out loud to Alice. Alice looked stunned, and Rose looked very apprehensive.

"How did you work that out?" asked Alice, impressed.

"Call it instincts, I guess. I mean you always seem to know things you couldn't possibly know, and well - it became obvious once I started to really think about it. I can see why you guys usually seem to keep to yourselves - once you begin to observe your behaviors, it's obvious something's different." Alice smiled a bit, and nodded.

"Yes, I've always known you'd work most of this out on your own, but it's still interesting to see it happen." Alice laughed. "But yes, I can see the future, but only subjectively - most things change based on decisions you make. Only some things stay the same no matter what a person chooses." At this, Alice pointedly glared at Rose, who deliberately looked away. Rose was beginning to look very nervous.

"You're really telling her too much, Alice. I mean, eventually she could figure out the whole thing," she said, looking nervous and unusually vulnerable.

"And what, you're afraid you'll have to deal with actually forming an emotional connection with another person?" Rose hissed at this, and looked away again.

"I just mean that it's not safe for her to know, and you know that."

"She'll have to know eventually, Rose, you know that too. I've seen it," she replied. Rose hissed again.

"I'm clearly missing something here, but neither of you will tell me, I'm guessing, so I should probably go soon." Rose and Alice quickly exchanged a glance, and nodded.

"Well, I'm sure you can make it back to your car without running into something dangerous, so I'm going to leave now. Even you aren't that unlucky. Unless you try again," sneered Rosalie. We're back to ice queen, now, apparently. She began to walk away.

"Ah, be still my heart; your charms once again render me speechless, tell me, how can I ever resist such affection!" I shouted sarcastically at the back of Rose's head. I heard what sounded like a laugh from her, but I couldn't be certain, since she was still refusing to look at me. I could feel the warmth in my chest fading, and I knew the ice was imminent; I shuddered involuntarily.

"Are you okay, Bella?" asked Alice, looking concerned.

"I'm fine, just…shaken up. Could you walk with me back to my car?" I asked.

"Sure, Bella." I began to walk, and she followed, keeping herself at my normal, human pace.

"Hey Bella?" she asked, after a few minutes of silence. "What are you planning on doing tomorrow?"

"I'm going down to La Push with my dad, why?" I responded. Alice let out a sigh, as a look of understanding and irritation crossed her features.

"No reason. I just noticed it was hard for me to see your future tomorrow."

"Define hard?"

"You were fuzzy in a lot of it, but if you're going to be at La Push, that explains why." I look at her, confused.

"Alice, why would that affect your visions?" I asked, wondering what else she was keeping from me.

"Oh, just…something about La Push makes it harder for me to see, I guess."

"And you're not going to tell what that something is," I guessed.

"Nope," said Alice, a grin spreading on her face. "Can't. But Bella, I think you may get some answers there yourself about us. My family, I mean."

"You want me to know?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course I do." She lets out a huff. "And you will know, I've seen it. The other family members are stubborn, for reasons that I can't explain right now."

"You could try to explain it, Alice," I whined. I realized I was sounding like a petulant child, but I was growing exhausted with this secrecy. I noticed were approaching my truck, and I picked up my pace.

"I can't tell you anything, Bella, trust me. I want to, but I can't. It's against the rules." She held up her hand before I could respond. "Don't ask 'what rules,' just know that they're important ones. I want you to know the truth, believe me, but its so much easier if you work it out on your own." I sighed, again.

"Okay, Alice; I'll take your word for it again, this time, but I want some answers. And I want to know why Rosalie's behavior is so...unusual. I mean one day, she's staring at me with massive intensity, the next she's vulnerable but still snarky, and then after that she's a total bitch. I'm getting emotional whiplash." Alice laughed.

"It's not my place to tell you everything, but Rose is very complicated. She's been through a lot in her life, and she's earned the right to be a little standoffish. She'll explain it, one day." I sighed and nodded dejectedly. As I went to climb into the front seat of my truck, Alice pulled me into another hug, which I returned. She pulled back, and gave me a mischevious smile.

"You know Bella, if you do ask about us tomorrow, when you're down at La Push, you may get some answers. Don't ask me what I mean," she said, cutting off my question before I can ask it. "Just trust me. La Push may have answers." And just like that, she was gone.


	9. Legends

_A/N: So obviously, this chapter will introduce my version of the pack. I have sort of combined some of the gender-swapped members from Life And Death along with some of the originally gendered wolves. Obviously, who's who will become very clear very quickly. Enjoy!  
(Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, I'm just borrowing it for nefarious purposes.)_

 _Chapter 9 - Legends_

That night, I again dreamt of Victoria. In my dreams, her features had become much more defined and specific to her. It helped that I had actually gotten a closer look at her, I suppose, however terrifying that closer look may have been. I still can't tell how prophetic these dreams are, but I suppose they must have something to them. That didn't mean I liked them, though. I really wished I could go back to dreaming about Rosalie, to dream about kissing her, being with her, anything but these grim visions of death. I knew Rosalie and I weren't exactly close, but the idea of her comforted me, no matter how much it seemed to cause the hole in my chest to pulse with an empty chill.

The night passed slowly, but before I knew it, I was waking up, and heading off to visit La Push, with Charlie.

xXx

"So, who's going to be there, again?" I asked Charlie, as we pulled up to the small house.

"Well, Holly Clearwater and Bonnie Black, obviously, along with Holly's kids, Seth and Leah. You remember, Leah, right?"

"A little bit," I said, trying to conjure up a fuzz memory of a very pretty girl from my childhood. "I doubt she'll remember me. And is that it?"

"Bonnie's also bringing Jacob over, I think. He's changed a lot since you last saw him." He gave me a conspiratorial wink, and I rolled my eyes at him as I stepped out of the car, and walked towards the house.

Once I was inside, Charlie made a point of introducing me to everyone, and I had to fight to keep from blushing under the scrutiny of these sort-of strangers. Bonnie and Holly were both older than I remembered them being, while Seth was definitely different. I had only fuzzy memories of him, but I knew that used on his age there's no way he could be as tall as he was now. To my knowledge, he was barely 14, and 14 year-olds are hardly ever 6 feet. I noticed Leah wasn't inside, and Holly said she was sitting out on the porch, but that we shouldn't bother her. After this confusing exchange, I looked over at the boy Charlie had indicated as Jacob Black, and attempted a small smile. This was not the small child I remembered. Jacob was even taller than Seth, and he seemed to be impossibly muscular. His hair was cropped much shorter than I expected, and he had a very large, unusual tattoo on his right bicep. As I took in his appearance, I noticed that he was staring at me intently, as though he was almost waiting for something happen. I attempted to shrug it off, but he seemed to keep watching me, like he was undergoing an internal debate. As everyone else sat down in the living room to watch some sports game, I slipped away and headed into the kitchen, determined to avoid his eyes. Unfortunately, I was not so lucky.

"Hi Bella - I'm sure you probably don't remember me, but I definitely remember you." I turned, and saw Jacob leaning against the refrigerator, his face now contorted into what was clearly his attempt at a flirtatious smile.

"Yeah, sorry - I sort of do, but not really. I think I remember your sisters and Leah more clearly." He grimaced slightly at this, but shrugged it off quickly.

"Yeah, my sisters would be closer to your age, I guess. You definitely look different, anyway." He smiled.

"Yeah, you do too - when did you get so tall?" I asked, attempting to be polite.

"Eh, I'm not so tall - you should see a couple other guys on the rez. Lots of us are tall here." He smirked, as though he knew something I didn't, and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, I guess - I don't come down here much, so I guess I wouldn't have noticed. Haven't had the time." I turned away, desperately hoping he'd leave the room, but he continued talking, moving closer to me in the process.

"So, how are you liking Forks? Miss the sunlight in Phoenix?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I've managed to put myself in the hospital twice already, and it's only been two weeks." Jacob laughed at that, and I attempted to laugh in response.

"Yeah, Charlie has always said you were still as klutzy as you were when you were little, but I didn't believe it."

"To be fair, only the first time I was in the hospital was out of clumsiness, the second time was much closer to a near death experience - I was almost crushed by a van. No damage, but it was still freaky. Thank God for Doctor Cullen, I guess." At this Jacob grew very stiff, and his smile vanished.

"Doctor Cullen? He's the one who saw you?"

"Uh, yeah. He is." Jacob looked deeply agitated by this, and I was puzzled. "It's not that unusual, Jacob; he's the best doctor at that hospital, and his daughter was the one saved me from the van, anyways."

"His daughter saved you?" sneered Jake, snorting derisively, as though he didn't believe it.

"Uh, yeah - Rose…I mean his daughter, she pulled me out of the way at the last second. I over her my life, I guess." Jacob was shaking slightly now, and I was beginning to become very confused. What was his problem with the Cullens?

"Um, Jake," I asked, hoping to interrupt his shaking. "Are you alright?" Jacob took a few deep breaths, and nodded, relaxing himself.

"Yeah, just…you really should stay away from the Cullens, Bella." Seriously? Now he's giving me orders?

"Why? They're…nice. To me." I said, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. Jacob let out a humorless laugh, and shook his head.

"Sure they are. Listen, Bella, just trust me on this - the Cullen's aren't safe to be around."

"And just how would you know that," I replied, beginning to get really annoyed.

"I just do," he replied, arrogantly.

"I think I need some air," I said, before exiting the house through the kitchen door. I thought I heard Jacob call after me, but I didn't look back, as I wandered around the outside of the house, looking for an escape. When Alice said La Push would have answers, I was hoping for something more concrete and less vague and confusing. So far, all I had gotten was a warning from a creepy teenage boy, which doesn't exactly solve the mystery of "What the fuck are the Cullens, exactly?" All it does is confuse me further.

I arrived at the small porch attached to the Clearwater house, and paused. Sitting there was a very beautiful native girl, who I assumed had to be Leah Clearwater. She looked like a much younger, taller version of her mother. Her hair was black, and flowed down to the middle of her back, and lips were extremely plump and pink. She was staring off into space, with a look of bitter anger tracing her features. I wondered what that was about, but I decided not to ask. I noticed the empty chair next to her and after debating internally, I walked over and sat next to her. She looked up and gave me an annoyed look, before returning to her staring. Well, this is off to a great start. I attempted to think of a normal, subtle way to start a conversation, but came up blank. I decided to just go with the obvious thing.

"Hi, I'm Bella. Bella Swan." Leah gave me a cursory look, and nodded.

"Charlie's daughter, right." She looked away, her face still irritated. Even when she was annoyed, she really was quite beautiful. I wondered if I should try a new tactic. I thought for a moment, and decided complaint was the way to go.

"So, do you have any idea what the fuck is wrong with Jacob, or are you as clueless as I am?" I asked, hoping to break the ice. Please tell me this works. Leah stared at me for a few seconds, before thankfully throwing her head back in a very loud, very hearty laugh.

"Yeah, I don't know, either. He started hanging out with that dumb cult of Sam's, so that could be it; then again, he's always been a dick."

"Who's Sam," I asked. Leah paused; she looked at me like I had three heads, before a look of realization and relief passed over her face.

"Oh, you don't know? Thank God. I can't tell how great it is to talk to someone who isn't doing it out of pity," she sighed. When I gave her a confused look, she continued: "Don't ask, trust me. I don't wanna explain it. I'm sure someone will tell you eventually, but for now, just enjoy not knowing all the La Push gossip. Anyway, Sam is Samantha Uley; she runs around La Push with these two girls and three other guys, claiming to be 'protectors of the tribe.' It's really fucking weird."

"That sounds creepy."

"You have no idea, trust me. It's Sam, Jacob, Paul Lahote, Emma Call, Quil Ataera and Janae Cameron. I'm guessing you know none of them," she added, and I thought for a moment.

"I think I remember Quil following Jacob around when he was little, but it's a fuzzy memory. I was like 5 or 6."

"Yeah, that's probably him, they've been best friends for ages. Well, they were until Jacob joined Sam's cult. Then Jacob basically dropped Quil; he was pissed, he complained to me a lot about it. Then, a few weeks ago, he's joined the cult, and everything's fine between them again. I asked him what Sam and her gang did, and he told me I didn't understand her." Leah scowled at the last words, before a brief flash of pain appeared on her face. She shook it off quickly, and looked back to me. "So, why so interested in Jacob's creepiness?"

"Oh, he was just staring at me like a creep, and then he started asking me all these weird questions - it was really weird. I didn't understand it." Leah laughed.

"Oh, come on Bella - you have to know that Jake's had a crush on you since you both were little. I mean he was sooooo excited you were moving here. I'm surprised it took him this long to talk to you, really." I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Well that's just great. One more guy I have to deal with - I swear, I never got this much attention in Phoenix…" I trailed off, as Leah gave me an appraising look.

"I doubt that, Bella." I blushed and reflexively looked away.

"Yeah, well…it doesn't matter, anyway. I'm not…exactly into guys." Leah continued looking at me, and gave me a small smile.

"Gotcha. So Jake really has no chance, then?" I snorted.

"Yeah, none at all. Especially not after today. He was...so creepy. The weirdest thing was when I mentioned the Cullens, and he basically freaked out on me with no explanation." Leah scoffed and nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, Sam and her cult must take those old tribal legends seriously. Ugh, what idiots." This struck something in my brain - legends? Could this be the thing Alice was referring to? I mean, I suppose it's not likely that the Quileutes would know anything, but it couldn't really hurt to ask. Could it?

 _"Just stop wondering and ask already."_ Okay, instincts, take it down a notch.

"What legends?" Leah looked it me for a moment, and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, just these dumb stories they tell us when we're kids. They're meant to be secret to the tribe, so we're not supposed to tell anyone, especially someone like you, an 'outsider,'" Leah snickered. "But I'm sure you won't tell anyone."

"I won't, I promise," I responded, a bit too eagerly.

"Oh, calm down, they're really not that exciting. Basically the old legends of our tribe says we're descended from wolves, and some of us have the power to turn into wolves, to protect us from our natural enemy."

"The Quileutes have a natural enemy?" I asked, smirking.

"Just one - the cold ones," said Leah, in a faux ominous tone. "Blood drinkers - what you would call vampires, I guess. They're supposed to have pale skin and red eyes, and only the wolves can kill them, for some reason. I'd say you can't make this shit up, but…" she trailed off, laughing. I didn't laugh. Vampires….vampires? Vampires. Victoria is a vampire. No, that can't be possible. This…makes no sense. I…it can't be true. But…is there any other explanation, really? Is this really so outlandish that it's unbelievable?

"It's not." So, the Cullens are vampires. I have a crush on Rosalie Hale, who is a vampire. Well, this is fucking fantastic, isn't it. It was at this moment I realized Leah was looking at me, confusion on her face; I must have been thinking quietly for longer than I thought. I attempted to calm and stabilize my expression.

"Um…yeah, I don't know how to properly respond to that," I replied, attempting to smile. Leah snorted.

"Yeah, it's pretty stupid, isn't it?"

"Wait, so what does this have to do with the Cullens," I asked. I realized they hadn't come up yet.

"Oh, according to the legends, the Cullens originally moved to town many years ago, and the wolves tried to kill them, but stopped when they realized they weren't like the other Cold Ones. Apparently, they had gold eyes, and only fed from animals, so our tribe formed a treaty with them, agreeing not to kill them as long as they stayed off our land."

"Wow, yeah, that's really dumb," I replied, attempting to joke.

"Yeah, tell me about it; apparently some of the tribal elders refuse to go to Forks Hospital anymore because its where the doctor Cullen works. It's really ridiculous - like they think Dr. Fang is gonna suck their blood." I gave a fake laugh, and hoped she didn't notice my uneasiness. "You know, you're a lot more entertaining than I expected; you should really come down to the rez more often."

"That's what Charlie keeps saying, but I've been ignoring him; maybe I won't in the future." This was actually true, and I gave Leah a genuine smile, which she returned. Leah seemed nice enough, if a bit abrasive, and I could very easily see myself being friends with her. I really hope she doesn't think I was just using her for information. Okay, so maybe I was, but I also did actually like her.

The rest of the day passed with me and Leah chatting more, while Charlie grinned at us through the window. When we left, Leah surprised me and pulled me into a slightly awkward hug, but I returned it easily.

As Charlie and I were driving up from the reservation, he kept giving me curious looks, but I attempted not to notice him. Eventually he asked me a question.

"So, you and Leah got along all right?"

"Uh, yeah, we did. She's really great. I mean she's a bit abrasive and standoffish, but she's quite lovely, underneath that." Charlie gave me a curious smile, and then sighed.

"Yeah, poor girl. She's been through a lot." What? Charlie saw my confusion, and continued. "She was dating this girl, Samantha Uley, in high school. They were apparently planning on getting married once the state legalized it, but then all of sudden, Sam dumped her and started dating her cousin, Elliott. No real explanation for that one. Holly and her husband are very worried about her - she still seems really hurt by it. They seemed relieved that she was talking to you. She's not much of a talker, apparently." So that's what Leah was referring too; I can see why having your high school girlfriend leave you for some guy would be difficult for anyone. It would also suck having that guy be your cousin, and for everyone to know about it.

"She did seem a bit off at first, but she relaxed eventually. I liked her." Charlie gave me another curious smile and turned back to the road.

"Yeah, it seemed that way. She's a nice girl. And what did you think of Jacob?" he asked, not looking at me.

"He was...friendly." Charlie snorted, and I fought the urge to laugh. "I don't remember him all that well, but from what I do remember, he's certainly different now."

"You can say that again," sighed Charlie. "He seems to be running around with that weird group of kids down at La Push. They don't ever seem to get into trouble, but it still makes me uncomfortable; they act more like a gang than seems safe. I asked Bonnie how she felt about it, but she told me not to worry." I sighed, and looked out the window, my thoughts drifting to what Leah said about their gang; Jacob definitely seemed to know something about the Cullens, even if he was hesitant to reveal what that something was. And it obviously related to Samantha Uley's gang; I just couldn't figure out what the connection was.

I switched my thoughts from Leah and Sam and Jacob and gangs, to thinking about what Leah had told me today, and what it meant. So, to recap, The Cullens are vampires. To be clear, they are not _just_ vampires, but they are in fact "different vampires" who drink animal blood. For some reason, these vampires they are protecting me from another vampire named Victoria, who has a more…"traditional" vampire diet. What am I supposed to do with this information? I suppose I did feel better now the truth about everything, but it also made me even more terrified. A dangerous vampire is apparently obsessed enough with killing me and drinking my blood that I need protection from her. Oh, and to top it all off, I have a bizarre attraction to a blonde vampire, that for some reason has caused a hole to open up in my chest inexplicably.

After cycling through all this information, one thing was clear: I needed to talk to Alice.


	10. Outcomes

_A/N: I just want to give a big shout out and thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favorited or followed this story. If I could send you all large gift Baskets, I would. I lack the budget, of course, but I would still do it. Also, some people have asked why I have selected Edythe instead of Edward - there are several explanations, but the primary one being that most of the time I find Edward excruciating, but I didn't want to/couldn't completely write him out, so I used his Life and Death counterpart, who I found much more tolerable.  
Anyway, here's a new chapter.  
And as always, I don't own Twilight or its characters, but they own me._

* * *

 _Chapter 10 - Outcomes_

As I arrived home, I went into the kitchen, mentally wondering how I could contact Alice to speak with her. I suppose I could try to find her phone number in a phonebook or online; but then, I guess the vampire family wouldn't want their home landline accessible to the unwitting human public. Maybe I could write a note, asking her to see this in a vision and come to me? No, that would just be stupid. Besides, Charlie could accidentally see it and that would be really bad. There's no possible way I could explain that that wouldn't result in me in ending up in a padded cell. Maybe I could just wait for school? No, too long. Far, far too long.

"Bells! I'm ordering pizza! Do you want anything?" Charlie shouting broke me from my thoughts, and I shook my head trying to clear it.

"No, I'm good - just get what you usually get, and I'll have a slice if I get hungry." Charlie nodded and turned back to the phone. I sighed. I needed to stop spacing out so much. Charlie would notice and worry, and then he'd call Renee and she'd worry, and I'd end up back in Phoenix, probably leading Victoria directly to my mother in the process.

Victoria. I shuddered at the thought. She seems to know who I am, but she hasn't gone after Charlie or anyone else I know, thankfully. Maybe the Cullens are keeping her at bay somehow. I still don't understand why they're protecting me, but I'm certainly not going to complain about it. I don't need Charlie's or anyone's death on my conscience. Still, that's probably something I should ask Alice about, too; how does Victoria know me, and why is she trying to kill me, and how does she know you guys?

Dinner passed briefly, and without incident, so I decided to go to bed early. I said goodnight to Charlie, pulling him into an awkward hug, and then I walked up the stairs. I opened the door to my room, and found Alice sitting on my bed, expectantly. I almost screamed, but caught myself, not wanting to worry Charlie.

"Jesus, Alice; had you ever heard of calling?" Alice grinned and laughed.

"I saw you decide you wanted me to talk to you, and you were planning to try some very ridiculous things to try to contact me. I decided to let you skip that part, and just get right to the me being here. So...hi!" She grinned at me, and I stifled a laugh. I was surprised, but I suppose that did, in fact, sound like something I would do. I sighed, sand sat on the bed, opposite Alice.

"Did this vision also show me…"

"Passively deciding not to argue and agreeing to let me stay here while we discussed things? " I rolled my eyes, and Alice laughed. Annoying little pixie. An awkward silence fell over the room. I really wasn't sure where to begin.

"You really don't know where to begin, do you?" asked Alice.

"You need to stop doing that," I sighed. Alice smirked at me, but naturally didn't apologize.

"So…" I began, looking vaguely around the room, "…you're vampires?"

"Yep," said Alice, nodding affirmatively.

"Um…how is it you're able to go outside in the daytime?" Alice giggled, sounding like echoing wind chimes as she did. It was really a beautiful sound.

"We can go outside during the day, just not when there's real sun."

"Which there isn't much of here," I sighed, lamenting the weather conditions of Forks once again. "And you're burned by the sunlight."

"Nope, but we can't go outside in it. It does something weird to our skin, exposes us quickly." Skin…I was reminded vaguely of the image of Rosalie turning into a creature of glowing, billowing smoke in my dreams, but decided not to mention it. A flicker of confusion passed over Alice's face as I made the decision, but she thankfully chose not to comment on it.

"So…holy water?"

"Doesn't do anything."

"Garlic?"

"Tastes awful, doesn't scare us."

"Crucifixes?"

"Most of us are pagan."

"Sleeping in coffins?"

"We don't sleep." This floored me.

"You…don't sleep? At all?" Alice nodded sadly.

"Yeah. Our life is sort of like one never-ending day. It changes how you see time. Months to you can sometimes feel like days for us. Sometimes it can be useful, but it can get boring very quickly." Alice sighed, and I tried to think of my other questions. I thought vaguely about asking about why Edythe hated me so much, but that seemed rude. She was Alice's sister after all. Well, adopted sister. Alice looked annoyed, and I realized she had seen me change my decision.

"Just ask, Bella."

"But won't it be rude, I mean…she's your sister."

"That doesn't mean she's not extremely irritating sometimes." I snorted involuntarily, and then sighed.

"So you know what Edythe's problem with me is, then?" I asked nervously. Alice giggled again, and I raised my eyebrows.

"Sorry, Bella, but yeah, I do, and it's hilarious. So, you know how I have the ability to see the future?" I nodded cautiously. "Well, there a quite few vampires that have gifts, though their power and usefulness varies. Anyway, Edythe has the ability to read minds. Yet for some reason she can't read yours, and it drives her insane." I gaped at her while she laughed again. So, the mind reader couldn't read my mind? That's definitely a relief - she hasn't overheard anything unusual or unchaste about her siblings from me, then. I still don't get it why it's such a big deal to her, though.

"Why does that irritate her so much? I mean surely that's happened to her before?"

"No, Bella, it hasn't. Not once. And Edythe has been a vampire since 1918. You are the first person in 9 and a half decades to challenge her gift. It's pretty impressive, if you don't mind me saying so." She winked, and I actually laughed with her.

"I guess I have a knack for pissing off vampires," I sighed, thinking of Rosalie. And of Victoria. I guess I had to ask about her now, too. Yet, I worry I won't like the answer.

"So, Alice…do you know why Victoria is after me?" I asked. Alice's face took on a grim expression, and slowly nodded.

"Yes, and Bella, I should probably apologize for that; for not seeing it. Victoria's mind works very differently than most vampires, according to Edythe. We believe she has a gift for evasion that's almost instinctual, and lots of that involves making splitting second decisions. It's nearly impossible for me to see those because they happen so quickly, and most of my visions are based on decisions that were already made." I nodded, trying to indicate I understood, even if i was still extremely confused.

"Anyway, Victoria has held a grudge against our family for the past decade."

"Why?" I asked, wondering what you could do to piss off a vampire besides stealing a victim from them.

"We killed her mate, James."

"Mate?"

"It's a vampire term, essentially it means soul mate - your one match, etc. Humans believe in this idea, but rarely experience it the way vampires do. Anyway, Victoria used to travel with two nomads named Laurent and James. A decade ago, we were living in Chicago, when they showed up and began hunting rather excessively in the area." I raised my eyebrows.

"Define excessive," I said, trying to steady my voice.

"Enough that humans were beginning to think there was a serial killer in the area. Humans rarely notice anything odd about vampire victims, because usually the bodies are never found, or the injuries resemble an animal attack. But when enough people disappear in one area, it becomes noticeable. We were worried about being exposed. so we confronted the nomads, and James and Laurent attacked. Victoria sensed the danger and escaped, but James and Laurent insisted on fighting."

"And you killed them?" Alice nodded sadly.

"Carlisle was very unhappy about it, but it had to be done. Anyway, Victoria was furious as well as heartbroken; when a vampire loses their mate they usually either go catatonic or go completely insane."

"And Victoria went insane?"

"Essentially. And in her insanity, her main goal has been revenge - specifically, making our lives as difficult and miserable as she possibly can. Usually, this would just mean a mate for a mate, but she doesn't know which of us individually killed James. Since it was a group effort in her eyes, she wants revenge on all of us. For the past ten years she's been following us, over hunting in the areas we live in, risking exposure and then disappearing before we can catch her. It's infuriating, especially for me." Alice hissed in frustration, seemingly at herself, before continuing. "Since I can barely track her decisions, I can never trace her actions, and it's almost always too late. I can do better if I'm constantly watching her, or if it's a more premeditated decision, but her instincts throw me off."

"But what does that have to do with me?" I ask, still not getting it.

"Victoria showed up here at around the same time you did. On the Tuesday after you arrived, one of the days Rose was staying home from school and being stubborn," Alice rolled her eyes to emphasize this, "Victoria caught your scent. I saw what was happening and Emmett and Jasper came with me and kept her away from you. She tried again the next day, but Rose was furious, and challenged her to a fight, which nearly got both of them killed." This floored me; why would Rosalie try to stop me from getting killed? Alice seemed to hear my unasked questions, and gave me a small smile.

"Our family feels very protective of you, Rosalie especially. Why, I can't say; its up to Rosalie to tell you that."

"But you know, of course," I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Obviously." Alice gave me a small smile before returning to a serious expression. "Anyway, after the confrontation with Rosalie, Victoria became very determined to kill you. We think it's because we defended you. She's developed a sort of obsession with you; I've seen visions of her looking up your records, trying to find more information about you. She's tried to find out who your friends were, too; that's why she's been at the school. You've become her primary focus. She has never tried to attack us all directly before, because she knows there are too many of us, so outrunning us has been easier. But with you, it's easy, and clear - she thinks that killing you will be the ultimate blow to us, which in a lot of ways, it would." Alice sighed and shook her head, a guilty look darkening her features. "In short, it really is all our fault, and I'm sorry about that; if I had foreseen this outcome, I would have tried to stop it. But I couldn't and I didn't, and now you, an innocent who has no involvement in this fight, has had your life put at risk." Alice looked truly forlorn, and I felt the urge to grab her hand, which I did. In truth, this was deeply unsettling. Victoria is after me because of a vendetta against the Cullens. It is only because of them that I am being hunted. Yet, I can't bring myself to be angry.

"Alice, I'm not mad. Granted, I'm not thrilled that Victoria is after me, but, like you said - you didn't foresee this, so I can't blame you, not really. And I mean…you only defended me because you care, for some reason. I can't be mad at someone for caring about me, however strange it is." I smiled, and Alice smiled back at me. I was surprised that these vampires care so much about my fragile life, but I wasn't going to complain. If it kept me safe, and got me closer to Rosalie (I chastised myself for thinking in this direction, but I couldn't help it), then I couldn't exactly complain. My thoughts were interrupted and Alice pulled me into an unexpected hug.

"Thank you, Bella. I really appreciate hearing it. I still feel bad, though. I can't see her decisions right now, but I know she's going to come back again soon. That's why have one of us keeping watch on you at all times." My eyes bugged out. At all times? When I was sleeping?

"Yes, when you're sleeping." Dammit, Pixie.

"Do you guys come in the room or…?" I trailed, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"Rosalie did once or twice, before she decided it was super creepy to come in here without your permission." I smirked at Alice, and she rolled her eyes. "You were going to invite me, so this doesn't count. Anyway, besides her, no one else has done that, except Emmett. He thought it was hilarious Rose did that and has been coming in here every time he has to watch you at night just to mock her. You talk in your sleep, by the way; Emmett says you're very amusing, and you mention my sister a lot." I gulped, and blushed scarlet. Lovely; more teasing from Emmett.

"So is that the whole plan? Keep watch over me until one of us dies?" I ask, trying to sound like I'm joking, and failing. I am actually afraid. They can't watch me forever, eventually something or someone will slip through the cracks. Like in Port Angeles - that had felt far too close. I decided to ask her about that, and waited for an answer. She sighed.

"Well, Bella, it's much easier to watch you in smaller areas, like in Forks, in your house or at school, at the grocery store…small places. Port Angeles is a bigger city, which makes it harder to follow you more surreptitiously, for both us and Victoria. We can't outright attack her in front of people, and she can't attack us, so whenever our trails crossed we just had to ignore it and hoped we got to you first. You were going to be fine, but then you changed routes very suddenly, and Victoria caught up with you." I sighed, thinking of my instincts of that day; if I had just stayed at home like they told me to…but then again, I wouldn't have found all this out. I need to learn more about my instincts, but I also need to trust them more. I'll ask Alice about them at some point, maybe. Not today. Hopefully the indecision keeps her from seeing it.

"So…" I say, trying to find a normal way to respond to Alice describing the night I almost died, "I should stay in Forks more?"

"Essentially. I'd also avoid going to La Push, I can't see you there or follow you because of the treaty."

"Right. You still never explained that to me. I mean, it's a weird place, and the legends they have about you are odd, even though they're accurate, but…why can't you see there?" Alice smiled, but didn't answer. I sighed. "You can't tell me, can you?"

"Nope. Not my place. There's a lot of things you still have yet to learn, Bella. And also, you're currently feeling very tired." I was about to argue, but then I yawned, undercutting my argument.

"I...I still have more, questions, Alice. I need to know-" I yawned again, interrupting myself. "Stupid human need to sleep," I muttered to myself. Alice laughed and pulled me into another hug.

"I'm going to go now, Bella. We can talk more the next time I see you. And you also, really, really need to talk to Rosalie." I knew there was more to that than she was telling me, but she wouldn't give me the answers I wanted, so I sighed and nodded. As Alice made to leave, another question appeared in my mind; something I should probably ask, but that I was too afraid to to know the answer of. Alice stopped, and looked at me. She looked bleak.

"Alice...this whole thing with you all and Victoria...what do you see happening to me? What is going to happen to me?" I asked, trying to calm my own fear.

"Well, honestly Bella, after this conversation and the events of the past two weeks, there are two real possible outcomes. One, you die. Either because of Victoria, or natural causes, or other forces that I can't explain right now, you die. That's one outcome." I shuddered, trying to regain my composure.

"And the other outcome," I asked.

"You become a vampire." And with that, Alice disappeared into the night.


	11. Knowing

_A/N: I know, another update? So quickly? What can I say, I'm to happy with my progress to stagger things. I'm 70% done with the story as it is, and I know in the future I may want to stagger things, but for now, it will be fast. Also, these next few chapters are mostly dialogue driven, and somewhat expositional, but I promise the plot will pick up slightly soon, before some more exposition and some cute Rose/Bella moments. Fret not, readers, for I do, in fact, have a plan._  
 _I do not own Twilight, or it's characters; Stephenie Meyer does, but that's never stopped me before._

* * *

 _Chapter 11 - Knowing_

After Alice left my room, I collapsed onto my back, looking at the ceiling. A vampire. Me, Bella Swan, would possibly become a vampire. My immediate, obvious reaction was that it sounded intriguing. I mean, I'd be fast, strong, have good senses, and I'd definitely be less clumsy. I wondered how much the change would affect my appearance. I knew Rose couldn't have possibly been that beautiful as a human, and neither could her other siblings. I also wondered about the skin; I was already pale as it was, so frankly that would be no real change. I knew these were more questions I had to ask Alice, but I couldn't for now. I just had to relax, and allow myself to be consumed by the image of myself, pale, beautiful, and deadly.

Death. The other outcome Alice presented. Obviously, that didn't appeal to me in the least. I didn't want to die, not at the moment. Of course, if I was human, I'd have to die at some point. But obviously, hypothetically, I wouldn't have to deal with that thought for years in a normal world. Victoria, of course was forcing me to think about it early. If I died, it would break my father's heart. Yet somehow, I couldn't see him particularly taking me becoming a vampire very well. I mean, vampires are immortal, so i'd outlive him either way most likely - but would I be able to see him after I transformed, if I did it? Would I want to drink his blood? I shuddered at the thought.

So there are my options - get killed by Victoria, get killed by something else, or become a vampire. I can't honestly say for sure what I want to do right away, but I know one thing for sure: I have no desire to die anytime soon.

xXx

School the next day was an interesting experience to say the least. When I initially arrived in the morning, and looked over at the Cullen car, things seemed mostly the same. And they were, that is before Alice came over to me and started talking. It was just a simple, "Hi, Bella, how was your weekend," but I was floored all the same. I had not been expecting this.

"Oh, the usual; relaxed, lounged around the house, nearly got attacked by a psychotic vampire; oh, also I found out Vampires exist so now I'm just waiting around for werewolves and fairies to start showing up." Naturally, I wouldn't have said this if anyone was in earshot, and we were thankfully alone. Alice laughed, before giving me a quizzical look.

"I don't know anything about fairies, but there were werewolves."

"Were?" I asked, confused.

"They were nearly hunted to extinction by a vampire named Caius, long story. There are still some shape shifters that turn into wolves, but…" she trailed off, smirking at me. Shape shifters that turn into wolves...why did that sound familiar…

"Well, that's fine then. What about witches?" I asked, laughing slightly.

"Nope." Alice smiled, and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and staring walking us towards the school.

As she did it, I looked over her shoulder; Emmett, of course, was grinning like a cheshire cat, while Jasper looked extremely nervous (on top of his usual pained expression), and Edythe looked more furious than ever, which nearly caused me to burst out laughing, now that I knew why she was so angry. Rosalie wasn't there, which I tried not to let bother me, but it did. Of course, I couldn't focus on that for long, because soon I was distracted by the stares of the other students.

Everyone was shocked, to say the least, that one of the Cullens had ventured out of their family, and allowed someone else into their exclusive social circle. Most of all, they were shocked it was me, plain, moderately attractive but unexceptional Bella Swan that had been allowed in. I tried to ignore the questions people were asking each other, and occasionally me, but it was very difficult. The stares continued throughout the morning, especially since Alice continued chatting inanely with me in between classes, often walking with me, despite the fact that we had essentially no classes together.

Yet, despite this, this was not the worst thing about today. No, the worst thing of all was that Angela and Jessica had clearly not informed Mike that I was gay, as he was becoming more overly eager than ever, talking to me at every chance he could get, whenever Alice wasn't there. He only ever asked me about Alice, once, before switching to other topics, attempting to grab my interest in whatever way he could (he couldn't, but I digress). It became so bad during Spanish that I chose again to avoid the cafeteria, and ate lunch in the library, avoiding an inevitable interrogation from Jessica and the others. I didn't know how to explain my newly developed relationship with the Cullens to them, as I barely understood it myself. I suppose I could say Alice and I were friends, but then they'd want to know how that had happened and how well I knew her, and I couldn't exactly say, "Oh, well she and her family had been protecting me from being murdered by a vampire, so naturally, we are now very close." I shuddered, before allowing my thoughts to drift to the one Cullen I hadn't seen this morning. The one whose reaction I was the most curious about. Where was she?

"She's here today, she just arrived separately from us." I jumped and turned to see Alice sitting next to me.

"You really have to stop doing that. Eventually you'll give me a heart attack. But then, would you see that, or is that too sudden? I'm not sure how this works," I said, laughing awkwardly, and hoping Alice wouldn't be offended by my questions. Thankfully, she smiled and threw another arm around my shoulders.

"Don't worry, I'd see that; but I'll try to give you more of a warning next time." I smiled, and then sighed.

"Won't you be missed in the cafeteria?" Alice laughed, and rolled her eyes.

"My siblings are somewhat...agitated at the moment." Ah, so they were worried about me knowing, then. Alice nodded at my unanswered question, and continued: "Yes. They don't have a problem with you, but with the rules about secrecy in our world, we have to be careful. Emmett doesn't really mind; he already wants to get to know you better."

"Edythe is still furious?" I asked, smirking.

"Yes. Not only can she not read your mind, but now you know the secret, and she can't check your thoughts to make sure she can trust you. She relies a lot on her gift to learn about people, so having no access to you makes it difficult. You guys will get along in the future." I raised an eyebrow at her, and she laughed. "Yes, I've seen it. And before you ask, Jasper doesn't have a problem with you, he's just very safety conscious. He's had a very different experience than the rest of us."

"That would mean something to me if I knew more about either of you," I said, rolling my eyes, which made Alice giggle again.

"I'll tell you some more soon, but not everything; besides, you know you'd prefer hearing lots of this from Rose." I blushed, still bothered by how much she seemed to know about my attraction to her sister.

"About Rose...will I see her in Biology?"

"Yep," said Alice, vaguely.

"And how will that go?" I asked, nervous. Alice winked at me, and then vanished. I sighed, wondering how long it would be before I felt the urge to throttle that little pixie.

xXx

I arrived at biology early, again. I sighed and walked over to the table I shared with Rosalie in the back of the room. I sat, unsure of what to do, waiting. I tried to avoid staring at the door, but I couldn't help myself, and the second Rosalie appeared, I self consciously shifted in my seat. She was looking down at the floor, making her face unreadable, but as she sat down next to me and took out her notebook, I caught a flash of her very worried facial features. She opened her notebook, and looked over at me. I tried to smile, but couldn't. I was too nervous.

"So, you know?" asked Rosalie, stiffly. She was speaking in a very quiet tone, which was understandable, since we were in a room full of people.

"Yes, I do." I replied, in a whisper. She looked at me, her face unreadable. She sighed and looked back down at her notebook. "Why does that bother you so much, Rose-Rosalie?" I quickly amended, wondering whether or not she was okay with me calling her that. She gave me a bitter half smile, and sighed.

"You can still call me Rose, Bella. And it bothers me because it leaves you very few options." I raised an eyebrow, giving her a confused look. She sighed and shook her head. We were both still speaking in hushed tones. Mr. Banner was due to begin his lecture at any moment.

"I don't understand what you mean by that. I know that…I know that you seemed very hesitant about me finding out. But still…I wanted to thank you." Rose gave e a surprised look, confusion glistening in her golden eyes. "You saved me twice now. I don't know why you did it, or why you seemed so mad at yourself for doing it. But I appreciate it, because you didn't have to." Rose's features softened, and her vulnerability from the first time we spoke reappeared. I smiled slightly, and she hesitantly returned it.

"I did have to, Bella. You don't need to thank me." I felt a pulse of warmth in my chest and I felt the urge to reach out and grab her hand. It was so close, yet I didn't know how she would react. Suddenly, her features hardened back into a scowl and she turned away from me to glare at someone. I heard a very quietly muttered apology, and looked to see Mike Newton looking down at his desk. I smirked and looked at Rose.

"He was staring again, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was," sighed Rose, before looking back at me. Her icy facade was back, but there was curiosity and fear in her eyes. I mentally wondered if I was reading too much into her facial expressions, and if it was normal to spend this much time pondering one person's tiny facial movements. Rose was still looking at me, and I attempted another half-smile; she didn't react.

"So, Alice didn't tell me everything - there are some things she said I had to discuss with you," I said, whispering. I looked up and saw Mr. Banner looking at me, so I glanced down at my notebook and began writing. A few moments of silence passed between me and Rose, before I heard a whispered reply.

"You're right - there is. But I don't know if I want to discuss it. If we talk about it, there's really no going back." I didn't have to look at her to hear the hesitation in her quiet tone. I wanted so desperately to look at her, and reassure her, and tell her all I wanted was for us to know each other better, but I didn't. I sighed and continued taking notes, while formulating a response.

"Rose, look. I don't know what the hesitation is, and I don't know what it is you're trying to save me from. But I remember Alice mentioning something about you trying to avoid forming an emotional connection with me." I was barely audibly whispering, but I felt that Rose could hear me. I made a mental note to ask Alice about whether or not vampires had heightened senses beyond strength and speed, before remembering that the answer would probably be yes. My thoughts flickered vaguely to one of the Cullen's laughing at me dismissing Emmett's attractiveness in the lunchroom, and decided that yes, they probably did have good hearing. I realized I had stopped writing, and chastised myself for going off on such an intolerable mental tangent. I focused on the work.

"That is the truth," whispered a voice beside me. I turned and saw Rose had inched closer to me. She was writing her notes intently, and I imitated her, facing front, trying not fixate on the sensation of our closeness. "I didn't want - I don't want us to become too close. Because then - it will be impossible to fight. I don't want to explain what I mean by that, but I will say this: I don't want you to have to deal with what I've dealt with. I've never liked the life I have to live. If I could be human again, i'd do it in a heartbeat. And you knowing the truth, and Victoria being after you…it makes the prospect of a normal human life for you almost impossible." I almost shivered at the vulnerability in her voice. I reached y hand out, and brushed mine against hers. I felt the electric current between us recharge, and I almost moaned at the sensation of it pulsing in my chest. I felt Rose shudder involuntarily, and she brushed her fingers back against mine. The heat in my chest and an unfamiliar place in my stomach was overwhelming, and my pulled my hand away quickly, to avoid the sensation becoming too much. I sighed, and looked back at her. She was still facing front, and I longed to know whether she felt the same things I did. I sighed, and decided to ask the question I wanted to know the answer to more.

"Do you," I whispered, "do you want to get to know me or not? I sometimes can't tell. Sometimes you're vulnerable with me, and then sometimes you're this ice queen who seems like she wants to shove an icicle through my throat to prevent me from speaking." She laughed quietly before covering it with a cough. "It's been sort of giving me emotional whiplash. So I really can't tell - what it is you want from me. Do you want us to know each other?" There was silence, and I waited.

"Yes, I do. Part of me does want that, desperately. And its incredibly selfish of me. And Bella…I don't hate you. I admit you sometimes…irritate me," I saw her smirking out of the corner of my eye, and I laughed quietly. "But that's not because I don't want us to know each other. I just want you to have the chances and the choices I can never have. Its looking more and more like I won't be able to fight this, but I'm going to. Because you deserve better, Bella."

"What if I don't want better, Rose. What if I want to know you too?" I whispered back. I turned and saw her face looking at me, expressionless.

"You don't know what you're saying, Bella. Just know that you deserve better, and I'm trying to give you that. Also, you do sometimes really infuriate me, which is hard to look past, really. You are the most irritating person I've ever met, Bella Swan." She half scowled, and I snorted, before covering it with a cough. I looked and saw that Mr. Banner had thankfully not noticed our conversation.

"Well, at least you feel something about me - even if it is profound annoyance. I'll take what I can get," I muttered to myself. I looked over, and Rose had moved her seat further away. I sighed, and mentally wondered if there was a way I could talk some more to Alice. I knew she wouldn't give me all the answers, but maybe she could explain some things to me. I clearly needed to ask her more questions. I looked at the clock, and wrote on my paper:

 _Alice, I know you can see this. I need to talk to you some more after school. Maybe somewhere private. I still have more questions. I know you won't answer all of them, but I still need answers._

I sighed, and looked at the clock. The end of this day couldn't come fast enough. Right before class ended, I glanced back at Rosalie, and saw she was looking away again. As the bell rang, I thought about how all I really wanted in that moment was her to smile at me again, however fleeting that would be. I had hoped knowing would change things somehow, and I suppose it has; I just can't tell if it's in a good way or not.

* * *

 _I know, I know, another clliffie of sorts. They'll stop eventually...maybe._


	12. Information

_A/N: So, to be clear, to assuage any concerns that I have received in reviews/messages: Bella and Rose will be together soon. They're stubborn but not that stubborn. It does involve a lot of talking, though, but don't worry, there is a plot here. Victoria will strike again, soon. Also, I'm changing the rating to T, for now, as even though there is serious subject matter in regards to Rose's life, I have no current plans for Lemons, though that could change (I doubt it will though.)_  
 _(Also, in regards to the Volturi, I've gone with the Life and Death queens, so yeah; glad to clear up any confusion)_  
 _Anyway, as always: I do not own Twilight or it's characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer._

* * *

 _Chapter 12 - Information_

"So…can I start asking now, or should I wait until we've arrived wherever we're going?" I turned to Alice, to see her face focused intently on the road. After school had ended, Alice had pulled me into a canary yellow Porsche and told me we were driving to Port Angeles to talk. I admit, I was alarmed, and almost complained about her doing it without my permission, before I remember I had requested this via a note I hope she'd see. I still was not fully used to having a psychic friend (or a vampire friend, but that's a whole separate issue), so I suppose I can be forgiven for forgetting I had made the request via vision. She had already called Charlie and gotten permission from him, of course; he was apparently thrilled I had befriended Alice. His admiration for Dr. Cullen seemed to have transferred onto his children, which I was surprisingly grateful for.

We had been in the car for only ten minutes, but we had made much more progress than I had initially expected, mainly due to Alice driving like a maniac. I knew she possessed incredible reflexes and she would see any potential accidents quickly enough to avoid them, but it still made me deeply nervous. I suppressed a sigh as I shuddered, while I waited for Alice to give me an answer.

"I can provide smaller answers for now, but the bigger things can wait a bit. So, what's on your mind?" she asked, winking, as though she didn't know. I rolled my eyes.

"I just want to clarify some things. About, er…vampirism? Is that what you'd call it?" I asked tentatively. Alice giggled in response, and it helped me relax, slightly.

"I think I've heard Carlisle call it that, but then, he's a doctor." I rolled my eyes, and she blew me a sarcastic kiss.

"So, are you all immortal?" I asked, trying to avoid a rude tone.

"Technically," she replied. Technically? What does that mean? Sensing my response before I said it (As always), she continued, "It is possible for us to be killed, but it's tough. You have to rip us apart, and then burn the pieces, because if you don't burn them, we can fix ourselves." I shuddered, and mentally imagined Victoria re-attaching her head to her body.

"But other than that," I said, steadying my voice, "you don't age?"

"We stop aging the day we are turned, yeah," she nodded, a slight frown appearing. "It makes living in one place for too long very difficult; we'll have to leave Forks in a few years, to avoid questions." I sighed, mentally dreading that day, whenever it came. Alice sensed this, and placed her hand reassuringly on mine.

"Sorry, I don't want to be rude in my questions, but there's still so much I don't understand. Some things I'm not even sure how to ask because I can't figure out how to put them into words." Alice nodded in understanding, and gave me a reassuring smile.

"I understand, Bella, and don't worry; I can help guide things once we're in a more comfortable environment. I do know what you want to ask, after all." She winked again, and I suppressed another eyeroll.

* * *

"Are you sure we can talk about this in a public place," I asked, as Alice, began to head towards our destination.

"We can - most humans avoid us naturally, and I've reserved a private booth."

"Booth?" I asked. "Are we going to a restaurant? I thought you don't eat human food."

"We prefer not to, but it's possible. We have to throw it up eventually," She shuddered, and I almost gagged.

"Ah, Alice, thank you; such a lovely image to have in my head before dinner." She snickered, and I once again, for what felt like the millionth time today, rolled my eyes.

We pulled up to the restaurant, and I looked at the name. I stifled a snort.

"Seriously? Bella Italia? A place with my name?" Again, I rolled my eyes. How tacky is that?

"Oh, shut up; that would only be lame if this was a date."

"It's still kinda lame," I muttered, which earned me an elbow in the ribs.

When we entered, Alice spoke to a very pretty but disinterested waitress, who lead us to the very back of the restaurant, where our booth had been reserved. Alice had reserved it yesterday, apparently; meddling pixie. Our waiter came over, and of course he was immediately dazzled by Alice, but who wouldn't be. He didn't seem to notice how she was ignoring him, even when she didn't look at him when she gave our drink orders. I stifled more giggles, and looked at the men, before I began to ponder my questions.

"Just ask, now, Bella, I know you want to." said Alice, dismissively.

"When you and Rose said it was dangerous for me to know the truth, what exactly were you referring to?" Alice sighed, as though she were preparing for something awful.

"I'm just going to be blunt and tell you: The Volturi. That's why it's dangerous."

"The Volturi?" I asked, dread in my voice; I could tell this was bad.

"The Volturi are essentially the law keepers, of our world, Bella; yes, we have laws. They've ruled for several thousand years, though in the last thousand, they've become stricter. They're not cruel, but they are very firm in their laws. The main one is simple: keep the secret." I gulped. So Alice and her family were breaking laws in telling me about their existence.

"So…what happens if you break the law and tell a human?"

"You're executed, unless the human has been turned. Then there's no crime." I sighed. So death and vampire life really were my only options. Alice nodded in response to my unspoken thought/question, and I sighed.

"So if I were to become a vampire, you'd all be safe?"

"Yes, though if we didn't turn you, it's unlikely they'd learn of it. We don't visit them a lot. The Volturi Queens are fond of Carlisle, but they are eager to have me, Edythe and Jasper join the guard." Queens? Guard? This is all getting somewhat confusing. "I've seen a vision of Carlisle explaining the Volturi to you in the future, so I won't go too in depth now," Alice added. I sighed.

"So is this dinner to give me answers or not?" I replied, exasperatedly.

"It is, but hush." She pressed a finger to my lips, and I turned around. Our waiter returned with our drinks and some breadsticks, still leering at Alice. Only looking at her, he leaned down, and asked: "And what will you ben having?"

"We'll both have the mushroom ravioli," responded Alice, not looking at him. He nodded and left, still staring at her. "Don't worry, Bella, I saw you'd order it and enjoy it, so I figured I'd order it for you."

"This whole psychic friend thing is odd." I sighed, sipping my coke.

"You get used to t after a few decades," winked Alice. "So, next question?" I paused, and then thought back to what Alice said about the Volturi ruling for thousands of years. So, there were vampires that old? I knew what I wanted to ask.

"Okay, so I don't know if this is rude, but how old are you?" I asked. Alice gave me a grim smile, and I wondered if I had offended her.

"We think I'm around 109, the same age as Edythe - she was born in 1901. But honestly, Bella, I don't remember any of my human life."

"None of it?" I gasped, before I covered my mouth and muttered an apology. Alice sighed and patted my hand.

"It's okay, Bella, but no, I don't. The truth is, when you become a vampire, you lose a lot of your human memories. You have them, but they're hazy. For some reason, I lost them all. The first thing I remember is waking up in an asylum, and what I'm pretty sure was 1920." I felt extremely guilty for asking. It clearly troubled Alice that she had lost so much of her human life. I tugged her hand in what I hoped was a reassuring gesture, and she gave me a sad smile.

"I'm sorry I asked. So you and Edythe are both over one Hundred? Who's the older?" I asked, trying to be more light hearted.

"Carlisle is the oldest, he was turned in the 1640s. Jasper is next, he was turned during the Civil War. Esme was turned after Edythe, but she's older than her - she was born in 1895. Rose and Emmett are the youngest, turned in 1933 and 1937." She didn't find this information as interesting as I did, so I moved onto the most pressing question.

"So, do all of you have gifts?" I asked. "How often do vampires have gifts? Do they carry over from when you were human, or…"

"Not all of us have gifts, no. Of our family, the only other person besides me and Edie with a gift is Jasper. He can feel and manipulate the emotions of those around him. He couldn't do that as a human, obviously, but we believe he was very charismatic as a human, and this carried over through his transformation." Alice saw my raised eyebrow, and explained. "Carlisle believes, and we all agree, that through the transformation, we bring our strongest traits, and those are amplified. Edythe was very perceptive as a human, so that lead to her mind reading. Emmett brought his humor, Carlisle his compassion, Esme her maternal instincts, and Rose, her beauty."

"And what about you? Were you just as cryptic as a human?" I asked playfully. Alice smiled, before her face turned serious.

"We think I had visions as a human, actually. It would explain the asylum." So, it was possible to have gifts as a human? So, if I turned, I'd have a gift? Is this what I have already?

 _"Yes. But still ask."_ Goddamn pushy instincts...

"So, Alice…hypothetically, let's say I have a gift?" Alice nodded, and smiled tentatively.

"I had seen you asking me about it several times about it," she said, "but they were always fuzzy because you were unsure. What is it you have, exactly?" So explained my instincts. The voice in my head, al the times it had helped me out of trouble as a child, how it had warned me not to talk to Rose, and it had hinted at Alice's gift. Alice looked truly and genuinely surprised; for the first time in the time I had known her, she was speechless. She barely even noticed our waiter bringing our food, which was, as she said, excellent. As I ate, her faced switched from surprised to glazed; I theorized she was searching the future for possible explanations. I wanted to ask what she could see, but I didn't want to interrupt. After I had finished my plate, and moved onto hers, I gently nudged her. She shook her head and blinked several times, before she came back into focus.

"Sorry about that; I was trying to look ahead to see if I could find the manifestation of it in you as a vampire, but that outcome is still uncertain, though it's more likely than death at this point."

"Lovely," I deadpanned. She giggled before switching to serious mode.

"After that, i decide to tell Carlisle and Eleazar, who's a friend of the family, and I looked for their theories; they settle on several, because your gift is sort of unheard of."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing," I ask, uncertain.

"Good. They think what you have is some form of shield, but more powerful and complicated.

"Shield?" I asked.

"It's a defensive talent, it's not very common, The Volturi has a shield, Renata; she shields the Volturi leader from physical attacks, but it only works if she's touching them. We think you're a mental shield, but with something else; you'd call it an information web."

"Information?"

"Yes, it could work in tandem with your shield," Alice nodded, still looking uncertain, though slightly more confident. "Essentially, it provides your shield with the information that can best protect you. It happens rapidly."

"Both times Victoria chased me it was telling me to run," I said, thinking of the voice in my head. So, I had a shield and a web of information? How does that work? They're not instincts? Alice shook her head.

"Instincts is more like what Victoria has - instincts for self preservation. What you have could be much more powerful - as a human, the shield and web only work part of the time. Well, the shield is always protecting you from Edythe's powers, but the web is more complicated, Carlisle thinks," said Alice, frowning slightly.

"How so?" I asked, getting excited. Could I use it willingly, I wondered.

"We think because you're human, it operates at a slower pace, and only provides certain information. If you were a vampire, it would provide ou things almost instantly; hypothetically, you could look at a person and learn everything you could about them to protect you. Their weakness, fears. It wouldn't be a voice then, though - Eleazar's theory on the voice will be that its manifested in that way because it's the least harmful way for your human brain." I scoffed at that.

"What, like my human brain is too weak to handle the information?" I sneered, annoyed at myself.

 _"It would overwhelm you,"_ said the web. (Not viewing it as instincts would definitely take getting used to.)

"It would overwhelm you," said Alice, hardly two seconds later. "If you had been three and had visions or pictures or however it is vampire you would see these things, it probably would have scared you." Alice shuddered, and I knew she was thinking of her own visions. "Although you did seem to have some sort of visions in your dreams, about Victoria and Rose? Mostly Rose, though." She looked at me with an amused expression, and I felt my face heat up.

"Yes, I did."

"Well, imagine getting those a few times a week or day, as a 4 year old child," said Alice gravely. I tried to picture it, and couldn't - my imagination as a child had been slightly underachieve, so images like that in my brain would have been deeply confusing. And if I had told anyone…I shivered at the thought. Things had changed since the 20s, yet I likely would have received a similar treatment to Alice.

"I suppose you're right," I said, conceding to her, "Still - an information web. That's bizarre. But extremely cool." I sighed with immense relief, at having a slight explanation for what had been plaguing me for seventeen years.

"So, have I answered all your questions?" Alice asked. "Besides the ones about Rosalie," she added quickly. I groaned and almost slammed my head into the table.

"Dammit, Alice, just give me something; at least explain these weird physical things I've been feeling." Alice snickered, and I blushed. "Not in that way, I just mean…I don't want to sound crazy, but every time she touches me, I feel like an electric current is pulsing over my skin. Not in a bad way, though, it feels amazing. But it's so confusing. And there's the thing in my chest…" Alice's look of total elation stopped me. "What?"

"You feel that? You're not exaggerating, you actually feel that?"

"Yes? Am I supposed to? Am I not supposed to?" I was a bit confused.

"You are, but as a human, I wouldn't expect it." I was about to ask what that meant, but she, in typical Alice fashion, decided to interrupt. "This thing in your chest? Do you feel it now?" The coldness in my chest throbbed as she mentioned it, and I reflexively hugged my chest.

"Yes. Sometimes if I don't focus on it, I can ignore it, but its always there. It's only ever okay when…" I trailed off, not wanting to tell Alice that her sister made me war in the center of my chest.

"So, Rose fixes it?" asked Alice, still grinning. I sighed and nodded. Alice was practically bouncing up and down in her chair with excitement, clearly thrilled for some odd reason.

"Oh, Bella!" she exclaimed, nearly jumping. "This, this changes everything, do you know what this means, if you feel it, she can't fight it, because eventually it will be too much, and…" She abruptly trailed off, being lost in a vision. I sighed, wondering if she'd ever explain herself. But still…she said 'she can't fight it.' Did that mean Rose was feeling what she was too? Did that explain her behavior?

Suddenly, Alice left her vision, and a look of dread passed over her face. She pulled out a cell phone, and hastily dialed a number. When she spoke, she did it so rapidly that I couldn't make it out anything she said. I could tell when she was pausing for the other person's response, but that was it. Halfway through the conversation, Alice was briefly hit with another vision, and her face relaxed. She switched to telling the other person about a topic that based on her facial features made Alice quite happy, but Bella couldn't be sure.

"So, Bella," said Alice, startling me as she closed her phone, "I do have bad news, but then good news too. It's mostly good news."

"What is it?"

"Tell you in the car." She winked, and called the water over to give us the check.

* * *

"So, in the first vision, there's no other way to say this - I saw Victoria feeding on Charlie." I gasped, and began shaking; my dad. My dad was going to get killed, and it was my fault. I had brought a vicious, red-eyed vampire down on my father's head. I could feel the moisture beginning to build in my eyes, as Alice hit the highway and accelerated. "Happily, though, the vision changed." I stopped the tears, and glared at Alice.

"Seriously? Did you have to phrase it that way?"

"I wanted to build suspense," whined Alice. I didn't stop glaring, so she sighed and shrugged. "Anyway, Bella, Victoria changed her route last minute because Esme beat her there, so she's fine, but now she's making decisions rapidly again. We worry she'll feed in town tonight, but we don't know on who." I sighed in relief, before mentally chastising myself; the other person she fed upon was likely as equally important to someone else as Charlie was to me. Whatever happened, it would be someone's tragedy.

"So anyway, we'll be watching you tonight; so, onto the good news." Her mischievous grin returned, and I felt myself relax. "Things are going to be very different for you and Rose soon."

"Really?" I asked, before I flushed at how eager I sounded.

"Oh yes," said Alice. "She's going to be less stubborn. It won't be easy, still, but now that she knows you feel the pull, she knows it's inevitable. She has accepted fate."

"Fate?" I replied, snorting. Is Alice implying Rose and I were fated to be together? I was deeply drawn to her, and could easily imagine a long relationship with her, but I never believed in fate.

"Yes, Bella, and try to be romantic for once in your life," said Alice, irritation coloring her joy. "Do you remember what I told you about how vampires find their mates? They mate for life, and thats it. Once you feel the mating pull, you know they're your mate, and you're done for." My mind reeled slightly; so Rose felt what I was feeling?

"I'm…Rose's mate? You saw this?" I was stuttering and blushing. So, according to Alice, mystical vampire forces have decreed I belong with Rosalie Hale.

"It's not surprising, Bella," said Alice "I had visions of it the second you entered Forks, but Rose has been stubborn because you're human."

"Right," I said, remembering her telling me I deserved better. As if there were anything better than her. (I realize that was an intense thought, but I don't regret it).

"I think she thought that because you're human, you wouldn't feel it, and that would make it possible for her to fight. That if she stayed away from you, she wouldn't feel it, and she would be able to stop herself, But she can't." Alice clapped in glee.

"Alice! Keep your hands on the wheel for Christ's sake! I don't need to worry about dying in a car accident! I have enough on my plate right now." She scowled, but then returned to grinning. I admit, I felt like grinning too, but I was still hesitant. Would Rose really accept me and our connection, or would she remain stubborn as ever? I sighed, and the rest of the ride passed in silence.

We were about 20 minutes from my house (5 at vampire speed), when Alice suddenly pulled to the side of the road. I looked at her questioningly, before I peered out the window; there was Rose standing by my truck, looking equal parts irritated and fearful. I looked at Alice, unsure of what to do.

"Just get out - you two have a lot to discuss." She winked. The second I exited the car and walked over to the truck, she sped away. I was now face to face with Rosalie Hale, my alleged mate, and I had absolutely no fucking clue what to say to her. I was thrilled and terrified.

"So…let's talk," said Rose.


	13. Mates

_A/N: So, a lot of people were confused about where this chapter disappeared to, and I should begin with an apology. Sorry.  
I want to explain why it disappeared, and what to expect now. I took down the original version of Chapter 13 for several reasons. One, I wasn't happy with the direction the chapter went in. I feel like I had softened Rosalie too much, and while I'm veering slightly off canon with everyone here, I didn't want to make her too nice or too much "like a lazy female Edward," as one kind anonymous reviewer has sent. Two, several others were vocal in their disdain, anonymously and non-anonymously, in my decision to kill off Angela. I admit, it was a half baked attempt to move the story forward, but it ultimately seemed two sudden. Three, I sort of lost the goal of what I was trying to do with this story, so I am hoping to steer the piece back in the right direction. I have been overwhelmed by the response to this story, and I am thankful for all the positivity and I promise in future things will be more steady.  
_ _Anyway, about 60% of this resembles the original, but much of the dialogue has been tweaked (I've made Rose more the way I want her to be) and there is no sudden "HEY LET'S MOVE THE PLOT FORWARD" reveal anymore. Enjoy!_

* * *

 _Chapter 13 - Mates_

The silence in the truck was deafening. It was just me, in the passenger seat, sitting while Rosalie drove. Neither of us seemed to know where to start. I thought Rosalie would do it, since she had been the one to say that "We should talk," yet she hadn't said a word since we got in. I was growing weary of the silence, sick of us avoiding this issue. As much as I hated to agree with Alice, we need to acknowledge this. So, I decided to break the ice.

"So I honestly don't know where to begin here so I may as well jump in - we're mates?" I blurted out. My words sort of blended together under my nerves. Rose smirked slightly, before returning to the quiet mask. Yeah, not exactly a subtle ice breaker, but effective all the same.

"Yeah, we are."

"So you knew?" I asked, before realizing that was a stupid question. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I knew. I felt it. I knew what Alice told me. I just didn't want it to be true." She sighed, and felt a twinge of pain.

"By that…you meant you didn't want your mate to be human, right?" I asked, trying to keep my nerves out of my voice. "Because I know…I know you didn't want to be a vampire. And you wouldn't want to have to make someone else one."

"Essentially," she said, her face unreadable.

"So it wasn't…this isn't because of me, right? This isn't because you're not attracted to me or anything? Do you…not want me?" I asked. Rose's face snapped to me, and her eyes narrowed. I prepared myself for her to snap at me, but then her features softened.

"Of course not," she said, a surprising tenderness entering her tone. "It has nothing to do with you. It's not because I'm not attracted to you. I am, Bella."

"You are?" I asked, relief coloring my voice. I blushed immediately and looked determinedly at my hands.

"Of course I am, you idiot," she half-snapped. I rolled my eyes - well, that didn't last longs "All my actions towards you have never been about that. I meant it, when I said you deserved better than this. Better than this existence." She gestured to herself, and then sighed. "Even though I felt the pull, I thought I could fight it. I wanted to." I sighed, not knowing what to feel. Rose looked at me, slightly uncertain.

"I guess I understand that," I said. "I was just so…confused. I felt like I was going insane, being drawn to this person I barely new, the current, the ache in my chest…" I reflexively clutched at myself, relishing the warmth that had replaced the cold in Rosalie's presence.

"That's it, though," said Rosalie, sighing again. "I thought I could stay away because I figured you wouldn't feel it, and anything you felt for me was because of how I looked." I was about to interrupt, but she firmly cut me off. "Look, I know it's more than that, but you really don't know me that well. We've only had a few conversations, and most have been about you."

"You aren't exactly forthcoming, Rose," I snarked back at her. A grim expression cried her features, and I instantly regretted saying it. "Wait, Rose, I-"

"It's fine, Bella. You're right. I don't like sharing things about myself. I haven't had exactly the greatest life. Vampire or human."

"I understand. Well, I don't, because I don't know the details, but I do know that you wouldn't say something you didn't mean." She smirked, knowing I as referring to her snapping at me in biology.

"I must have been giving you quite a bit of emotional whiplash, huh?" She let out a laugh, half genuine and half bitter. "Yeah, some of that is just my personality - I'm never going to be all soft and sweet. I don't do sweet."

"You do occasional bitchy vulnerability, I noticed." I replied. Rose let out another genuine laugh, before sighing.

"Bella, I'm not going to pretend I'm happy about this. Yes, I know you're my mate and I know we could be happy together, hypothetically, but it's still a shitty situation. You're human, and you also do irritate me quite a bit."

"How sweet," I deadpanned, earning a smirk. She does look quite sexy, even when she's annoyed.

"Look, the whole thing feels like some sort of cosmic joke to me, really. I spend 7 and a half decades alone, hoping for some happiness, and the potential for it comes in the form of a human, forcing me to make a decision I would have never made for myself. It feels like some sort of sick karmic trick, or something." Her face was contorted in disappointment, nerves and pain.

"Do you think this is fun for me? It's not. A redheaded vampire is trying to kill me, and my try to kill my father, and on top of that my soul mate is a vampiric ice queen who goes back and forth between sweetness and bitchiness and full out cruelty like some sort of spinning top. You confuse the hell out of me, Rosalie Hale, so don't act like this is only difficult for you," I spat out. I realized I had gotten angry. I looked at Rose, and she looked at me, and the we both immediately burst out laughing. It was ridiculous, this whole situation. We were both insanely drawn to each other, yet we also had a hard time standing each other. I don't want to spend too much time pointing out the ludicrousness of the situation, because it's pretty obvious, but Jesus, it's a lot to take in.

After we were done laughing, we both sighed, and continued the drive in silence. Rose was forced to drive at normal human speeds, and it seemed to really be annoying her. Every time she attempted to accelerate past 60, the truck would moan feebly and she'd have to slow down to avoid a mechanical malfunction. Each time it happened, her face would twist into a scowl, and I would suppress a laugh. I admit, Rosalie still scared me, but it was hard to deny that she was very cute when she was pissed off - granted, this seemed to be a semi-perpetual state for her, but I digress. After a moment, I decided to broach the silence, and address the elephant in the room: us.

"Rose…can you look at me?" I asked. She obliged, giving me a curious look, not vulnerable but not hardened either. I was relieved. "Look, this whole mate thing - obviously, it's very…sudden, I suppose. If anything is sudden for a vampire." Rosalie snorted.

"You are living proof that we can be surprised, Bella," replied Rose, tenderness slightly oozing into her tone. I blushed involuntarily.

"Well…look. My guess is Alice has seen us together, in the future, right?" Rose rolled her eyes and nodded.

"She wouldn't shut up about it - she'd been having visions since you were born, really, but they were hazy and she didn't understand them. Then, when you made the decision to move to Forks, they became clear and she saw your face - she saw us, together, as…well. She's told you her 'outcomes,' I guess," sighed Rose. I was gaping at her, a bit like a fish. It was sort of alarming that Alice had been seeing visions of us since the since my birth, but I supposed that was something I'd just have to deal with.

"And so…you were prepared?" At this, Rosalie let out a bitter laugh, and I gave her a questioning look.

"She didn't bother telling me until we got to school, and then didn't tell me your name until you entered the lunch room." I flinched, and then remembered the strange smile that Alice had possessed that day.

"Is that why she was smiling - and why you looked so - curiously intense?" I asked, not sure of how to describe the way Rose had looked at me. Rose sighed, and then looked almost - embarrassed? I was surprised.

"Yeah, well - I had never felt the mating pull before, and then it was very sudden, and you were right next to me, and, well…the truth is, when vampires find their mates the usual reaction is lots of sex, and then marking them." Marking? As in…

"So your first biology class you were fighting the urge to fuck me and bite my neck?" I asked, attempting to inject humor into the situation. Rose didn't laugh, glaring at me. "I was just trying to diffuse the tension, Rose." She smirked, begrudgingly.

"Yes, be that as it may - in the future, try to curb that instinct." Rose replied, grimacing slightly and not entirely looking at me.

"Sorry. But yeah, I can imagine if you've never dealt with it, it would be bizarre. I was quite surprised. Especially the coldness in the chest...it was kind of scary, for me." Rosalie looked at me, her features conveying understanding and no visible annoyance, thankfully.

"Yeah, it was overwhelming. Extremely overwhelming." said Rose. "That's why I stayed away for a few days. I needed to adjust to being near you. The mating pull is very powerful - I know you feel it, but for me it's even more intense. And then, on top of all that the thing with Victoria happened, and well, my supposed "mate" was suddenly being hunted. It wasn't the best week for me." She shuddered, and I nodded in understanding. "I am sorry about the Victoria thing, by the way. I didn't really have the right to stop her. She lives the way she does, and she has the right to hunt here. Protecting Forks isn't really our job, but...I guess I couldn't let you die."

"Like the thing in the parking lot, too?" I asked. She nodded slightly gravely. "I suppose that's my luck - I find a soul mate, but they're invincible, and I'm a clumsy danger magnet the universe it out to get. But I'm not...upset. Not really. I was more bothered by...I'm still bother, I guess, by the hopsital. It was...confusing. You were so sweet that Friday, and then after you saved me you were so mean. You looked at me like you regretted saving me. I thought you did." I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice, but I failed, as I pictured the black-eyed sneer Rosalie had given me in the hospital. Rose gave me a look, and hesitantly reached out and put her hand on mine.

"I am sorry about that. It was all…stubbornness. I don't know how to explain my logic, or my behavior. Again, some of it is just my personality, and I'll always be a like that probably, in a way. But it's not all that I am. I was just trying to push you away. I wish I could fully explain why I look at things the way I do to you, but...it's tough. I didn't regret saving you, though. I didn't. But I don't regret pushing you away. In the long run, it would be better if I could stay away from you. If things were different. If vampire mating weren't predetermined the way it is, I probably would have left. Quickly." She sighed, and withdrew her hand. "This," she said as she gestured to herself, "is not all that it is cracked up to be. Wanting it for yourself would be stupid, and naive." The bitterness returned to her

"I understand, Rose. Well, no, I don't fully understand - I haven't lived your life. I don't get why you're so cruel sometimes. It hurts, a lot. But you don't have to explain yourself to me now or ever in that regard. But I do want to learn more. I want to know more about you. Maybe sometime this week we can have a longer talk about…everything? And you?" I squeezed her hand, relishing the electric charge the action produced in me. "I want to really get to know you, and I want you to trust me enough to tell me things. I want you to want to tell me things." Rose looked extremely torn.

"I…some things are very difficult for me to talk about, Bella."

"I know. Well I don't know, but…just think about it." Rose stopped driving, and I realized we had arrived at my house. I looked out the window, and made a decision.

"Rose, I don't want us to jump into anything suddenly. Just because we're mates doesn't mean we have to declare our love for each other right after the first time we've really talked. I have no desire to go from being sort of acquaintances one to being each other's soul mate, the next. I don't want to be reckless. But I do want us to…spend time together. Get to know each other. Try. What Alice has said about the outcomes…" I flinched. "I just want us to have time together as a normal…couple, I guess. People getting to know each other. Before we make any decisions about things like mating and…my mortality." I saw the pained expression on Rose's face, and squeezed her hand again. "I know to never bet against Alice by now, and I don't want to fight the supposed 'inevitable.' I just think we should move at a slow pace. Be...humans about it, for lack of a better. Let's try to do this the normal way. Whatever is normal for us. We don't even have to be a couple right away necessarily - even if that is what I want..I mean if that's what I would want." I blushed, and looked away, realizing my slip. "I mean, i just...we don't need to conform to some pattern. I want whatever is between us to form in it's own way. Organically. I want us to try."

"Okay, Bella. Let's try." Rose smiled hesitantly, which quickly transformed into a frown, because of course it did. Can't let Rosalie be happy for too long, can we. I sighed.

"I'm guessing this isn't going to be easy for either of us," I said. Rosalie smirked and laughed slightly bitterly.

"Of course not. You still piss me off, Bella."

"How romantic," I replied sarcastically. "Right back at you, Rosalie. You may be gorgeous, but you're impossible to read. Not to mention the weird mood swings - you've had about seven in this car ride alone, and then there's the fact that you don't seem like the type to open up. I want to get to know you, Rose. I know you're going to make it impossible for me."

"You're right, I am," she said, honestly. "But, Bella..." She appeared greatly torn, and I realized she seemed extremely uncomfortable being this vulnerable. "I do want to try. I want to be better at...this." She gestured between the two of us. "I want to be better. Whatever that means."

"I think I understand. I'd want that too," I said. We glanced at each other's faces, lingering for a long time. The gazes weren't exactly loving, but there was something there. Something. Three minutes passed in silence. Rose exhaled, likely for my benefit since I was fairly certain vampires didn't require oxygen, but it was clearly meant to indicate something.

"You should probably go in. I don't think your dad would be expecting us to be together right now."

"How will you get home?" I asked, before realizing my stupidity.

"I'm somewhat fast Bella, in case you hadn't noticed," said Rose, rolling her eyes.

"Must be nice," I muttered. I looked at Rose, and her face had hardened.

"Its not nice, Bella. None of this is 'nice.' Remotely." said Rose, icily.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I didn't mean to be inconsiderate. I'm trying Rose. Really." I looked at her, pleasing in my eyes. She sighed, and expression softened again.

"I know. We have a lot to talk about, and you have a lot to learn." She squeezed my hand again, with sincerity, and nodded. Smiling slightly, I squeezed her hand back, and exited my truck.

* * *

Charlie had, of course, expected a full report on the events of my time spent with Alice. I gave him as much information as I could; I didn't want to lie to him, but obviously I couldn't say "We ate dinner while we discussed vampirism and also I possess an information web, which something that basically makes me sort of psychic or clairvoyant maybe, we never really hammered out the details." So I gave him vague details; the secrecy is uncomfortable, so I tell no lies, and merely give selective information. After he said good night to me, I made my way upstairs, opened the door to my bedroom, and jumped suddenly.

Alice was once again sitting on my bed, a wide grin adorning her facial features. I sighed, shutting the door, and removing my jacket.

"Jesus, Alice, you need to find a way of warning me." Alice laughed unrepentantly and I sighed exhaustedly.

"Well, the best option would be a cell phone, but every time I decide to give you one, the vision is usually of you yelling at me about being too carefree with money. By the way, we're not carefree about money, we just have a lot of it. I'm a psychic and I'm immortal - lots of stock market cash."

"Yes, well - I'd still be uncomfortable with that sort of gift. Sorry." She smirked.

"No, problem." I sat next to Alice, and she moved close to me. "Soooooo how was the talk?"

"Like you don't know."

"I don't. I only watched parts of it - ultimately it could have gone either way."

"Ugh, you're infuriating." She didn't stop smiling, so I sighed. "Fine. The tall was good. It was uncomfortable. But she was friendly and sweet for about half of it. And the other half wasn't too harsh." Alice giggled, and I sighed, collapsing onto my back. "I don't know, Alice; I do like her, I feel drawn to her. In her absence, that pain in my chest has come back. I need her somehow, which is dumb because I barley know her, at all, and half the time she seems like she's plotting my death." Alice laughed darkly, and I rolled my eyes. "Okay, poor joke when someone is genuinely plotting my death, but still - it's intense. She's charming and sarcastic and funny while also being cold, indecisive, nasty, detached, distant. It's an emotional clusterfuck." Alice nodded understandingly, placing her hand over mine.

"I know, Bella. Rose is very tough to break through to - there are a lot of walls. But I promise you everything will work out."

"I thought your visions were subjective," I replied sarcastically, eliciting an eyeroll from Alice.

"Yes, for the small things. I can't see how things will go overall. But the probability of you two being together, happy together in the future is very high."

"Provided I don't get the other outcome, which is death." Alice paused, and then sighed.

"Okay, to be fair, in the death outcome, it always looks like you two were together before then."

"Ah, well, that's comforting," I sighed. I sat up, and looked at Alice. "Look, Alice, I appreciate the support, but telling me too much of what you've seen, and outcomes - it will just get in my head. Give me some mystery. And I know our vision are based on decisions, so I'm going to as - don't stage manage us. Don't force us to interact. I think in the future we'll be more likely to talk to each other, but..."

"You don't want me engineering things like an irritating, pixie matchmaker." Alice finished my sentence, smirking. I smacked her with a pillow, and she laughed. "Don't worry, Bella - I promise the interference will be minimal. I'll only start getting manipulative if either of you gets too stubborn again."

"Good." I nodded, and then sighed, relaxing.

"Oh, by the way! I talked to Carlisle about your information web - he has several theories, but he's going to contact one of our cousins in Alaska to talk about them." Alice smirked - she seemed amused by this. "He's quite excited."

"I'm assuming cousin is a figure of speech?"

"Yep," said Alice, laughing, "they're a coven up in Alaska - The Denali. They're vegetarians, like us, so we're close of them. One of them, Eleazar, used to work with the Volturi - he can detect gifts in vampires and potential gifts in humans. It's useful, and Carlisle thinks he can have more information for us. Oh, also he said to try consciously using the web." I raised my eyebrows. Consciously use it? I tried to think if I had ever done that, but the truth was I hadn't - after trying to think very hard at age 8, I had just accepted it as a fact of life that I possessed it, and I couldn't strengthen it. But, if I tried very hard...

"How likely is it that that will be possible? I mean, it's not typical for humans to have gifts, you said."

"Yes, which makes me think you'll be able to make use of it. Some way, anyway. We could be wrong." Alice shrugged, and I rolled my eyes.

"Lovely. Well I can, try but maybe tomorrow. I'm a bit tired. It's been a long day." Alice giggled again, and nodded.

"I can imagine. I'll be keeping watch tonight, but don't worry, I'll go into the trees. I don't like the idea of watching you sleep, no offense. Good night, Bella!" And in the space of about fifteen seconds, Alice pulled me into a tight hug, kissed me on the cheek, and leapt out the window.

* * *

 _A/N: Well, there you are - less of a weird ending now. Let me know what you think!_


	14. Communication

_A/N: I know, I know, I said these would be more regular, but come on, a girl gets busy sometimes. The holidays are a hectic time for me, but don't worry, I'll try to keep a more steady schedule this year. Anyway, enjoy!  
(1/22 - So there were a couple grammatical errors and I realized I accidentally deleted a section so there was a continuity issue - new chapter soonish, maybe next month.)  
_ _I don't own Twilight, so perhaps it owns me._

* * *

 _Chapter 14 - Communication_

"Hey, Bella?" asked Charlie. I jumped, startled by his voice. I was sitting at the kitchen table, quickly wolfing down a small breakfast, my mind reflecting on the events of the previous day.

"Yeah, Dad?" I replied. He was looking at me with a concerned expression, and I tried to smile at him.

"You seem…off lately. I mean just now, you were completely lost in thought. You've been doing that a lot lately."

"Doing what?"

"Spacing out on me - like you're not really here." He sighed, wiping his hand across his face. "Look, I know we're not that close…but if anything is really bothering you, you can tell me, okay?" I sighed. I couldn't explain things to Charlie, but I knew he'd want some sort of explanation for my attitude at some point. My current plan was to blame on the whole " _I haven't told you I'm a lesbian_ " issue, since that was much less shocking than " _I'm the soul mate of a vampire who can barely stand me but we're also both slightly attracted to each other so it's sort of complicated, and oh yeah I'm being hunted by a lunatic._ "

"I will, Dad. I promise. There's nothing going on you need to worry about," I replied. Charlie gave me an appraising look, and then nodded once before heading out the door. I sighed. I do not like lying to my dad, but in this case, it is necessary. I ate in silence for a few minutes, before the sound of a car horn honking in my driveway startled me. I peered out the kitchen window, and saw a bright red BMW parked in front of my house, with a bemused-looking Rosalie Hale in the driver's seat. I stood there, gaping for a few moments before Rosalie honked impatiently, and I rushed out the door.

"Well, this car is certainly inconspicuous," I remarked, smirking as I climbed in the passenger side door.

"It's too early for me to tolerate you, Bella, so be quiet for the time being," replied Rosalie icily, though I could see mirth in her eyes, concealed by her sunglasses as she quickly pulled out of my driveway. She was driving far too fast, but that didn't really surprise me. A minute passed in silence, before I broke the ice.

"May I ask why you're here? Not that I object," I added hurriedly, prompting a smirk from Rosalie.

"Alice felt it was best that someone from our family escort you to and from school from now on." I rolled my eyes, but halted at the serious expression on Rosalie's face.

"Why?" I asked. Rosalie grimaces, her features maintaining her bleak expression.

"Victoria got very close to attacking your house last night." I felt my stomach tighten, and I took a deep breath to calm myself. I shut my eyes. Victoria…a constant threat, dangling over me.

"How close?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Emmett and Edythe had to work very hard to fight her off. The neighbors almost noticed. But of course, she got away again. None of us know how she keeps doing it. We're starting to think she almost has some sort of gift for escaping." Rosalie rolled her eyes at that.

"You disagree?" I asked, slightly amused, despite the awfulness of the situation.

"I just think that none of us are very good fighters, frankly. The fact that we successfully killed James was less about us being good at it and are about him letting his guard down. Beyond Jasper, none of us have much experience fighting there vampires. Alice and Edythe do okay with their gifts, but they rely on them too much. And the rest of us…" She trailed off, grimacing at her own line of thought. "I just think it's less about Victoria having a gift, and more about us not spending enough time strategizing and training to fight her."

"Do the others agree? I mean, it sounds like you're probably right," I said. Rosalie gave me a small smile, before returning to her serious look.

"Jasper agrees with me; Alice usually agrees with what Jasper says, but she's over confident in her own fighting abilities, so she's on the the fence. Edythe just thinks that eventually Victoria will give up because of something she saw in her mind, so why bother training, and Esme and Carlisle don't want to fight at all because they're pacifists. Emmett wants to fight, but he doesn't want to piss off Edythe." Rosalie half-laughed at her own statement. "Anyway, so for now we're at an impasse until something else bad happens. If Victoria gets even closer to you, or starts attacking people you know…" I shuddered, picturing Charlie or Leah getting attacked by the redheaded vampire.

"But you guys will be able to stop her, right? Before she hurts my dad? I know you guys aren't allowed in La Push, but there are people there I care about too…I mean, I don't want anyone to die because of me." Rosalie scowled, and whacked my arm.

"Relax. No one is going to die, and if they do it won't be your fault. Trust me, Bella, the risk is very low. We may be disagreeing at the moment, but overall we're on top of the situation, so relax, Bella," she said, practically hissing the last part.

"Right, because that's a vey reassuring tone," I replied sarcastically, prompting a harsh laugh from Rosalie.

"I don't do sweet comforting, I do realism; if you want to be cooed at, go find Alice or Esme."

"I'm sure there's a middle ground between cooing and hissing at me." I retorting, earning another harsh but more genuine laugh from Rosalie. Well, at least she's sort of loosening up. Then, another thought occurred to me.

"So did Alice suggest this? This new arrangement of you driving me to school?" I asked. Rosalie smirked, and nodded.

"It was originally mine and Esme's idea, actually, but Alice insisted it be me to drive you. My suggestion had more of a rotating schedule, but then Alice said the only people you are really comfortable with are you and me, and maybe Emmett."

"Yeah, I don't fancy spending 15 uncomfortable minutes in a car with Edythe." I muttered. Rosalie smiled again and nodded.

"Yeah, that was the impression Alice and I had. To be fair, because she knows that you're feeling the 'mate' pull now," said Rosalie, wincing slightly at the word mate, "she's being less hostile. She's still an insufferable know-it-all, and she still really hates that she can't read your mind, but she's complaining less and she promises to spend less time glaring at you."

"That works for me," I replied. "Fine, since this commute was technically your idea, I won't be lecturing Alice on 'stage-managing' us again, but she's still on thin ice." I smirked internally, knowing Alice was probably watching this conversation right now.

"Stage managing?" asked Rosalie.

"Oh, I lectured Alice last night on not trying to stage manage our relationship, i.e. forcing us into situations we're not ready for." Rosalie stared at me for a moment before giving me another genuine smile, and snorting somewhat derisively.

"I must say, I was worried about the same thing. She's been trying to give me date ideas ever since she found out about you. And while I'm not averse to spending time with you, I'd rather do things my way."

"I'd prefer that, too," I replied, smiling. "Alice's way seems much more over-the-top. You know she took me to a restaurant that had my name attached to it? Not exactly romantic." Rosalie laughed again.

"Yeah, that's not really my style. Besides, I don't see us ever sharing any tender, romantic candlelight dinners."

"Thank god for that," I said under my breath, earning another quiet laugh from Rosalie. I looked at her, and she gave me look that could be almost described as warm, before returning to her icy mask.

"By the way - we'll each be walking you to classes from now on. Mostly me, Emmett and Alice. Edythe, well, she'd probably bombard you with questions - she really hates not knowing what's in your head, so she'll want to hear and know everything. And Jasper, he..." Rosalie paused, unsure of how to proceed. "He struggles more with the diet than the rest of us."

"Why?"

 _"He's an empath - he feels all the emotions others feel, which includes the bloodlust of other vampires,"_ answered the web, providing its first useful insight in ages. I nodded in appreciation, softly saying "Oh."

"I didn't answer yet," said Rosalie, looking annoyed.

"You didn't have to." I replied, before wondering whether Alice had told her about the web. This was answered for me by the scowl of comprehension that crossed her features.

"Oh, right, your information web - I swear, you're going to be as bad as Alice," she muttered darkly, causing me to laugh somewhat loudly.

"I shall take that as a compliment, Rose. Besides, the web only chimes in occasionally. It's not constant, like Alice's visions."

"Good, so it won't be as bad, then," said Rosalie, her scowl lessening. We were silent for a moment, before she broke the silence again. "What did it tell your exactly?"

"That because he picks up on the emotions of other, he picks up on the bloodlust of all of you - I can imagine managing the bloodlust of 5 to 7 vampires on a given day must suck." Rosalie stared at mead dumbfounded for a moment. She looked almost…surprised?

"I…I never though of it that way," she replied, her voice softer, her expression almost guilty.

"Oh?" I asked, surprised, "it seems obvious. Aren't vampires supposed to be smart?" Rosalie scowled, and I suppressed another smile.

"We just always assumed it was…for other reasons," she replied darkly. "And we are smart - we just all don't have the luxury of possessing some bizarre form of an mystical encyclopedia in our heads, do we?"

 _"I'm not a mystical encyclopedia, and frankly I resent the implication,"_ replied the web. I snorted, earning me a glare from Rosalie.

"The web just wanted to inform me that it's not an encyclopedia - it sounded almost insulted, really. You should apologize, Rose." Rosalie looked way from me, facing the road, as we turned down the street towards the school. I could have sworn I saw another smile behind her scowl.

As we parked and stepped out of the car, I noticed Mike Newton standing by the entrance of the school, gaping like a fish. I laughed, and nudged Rosalie. She looked surprised by the contact, and gave me a questioning look.

"Look at Newton," I mouthed, and she did, smirking in the process.

"I can't tell if he's shocked or turned on, or some disgusting combination of both," she said, dryly. I laughed harshly, flushing at how undignified the sound was. Rose smirked at me, as well, which I hoped was a good sign - I can't tell all the time, really.

"Well, are we going to keep watching him?" she asked, bored and amused.

"No, we won't. Let's entertain ourselves instead," I said, and I reached out, pulled her to me, and wrapped my arm around waist. In the space of about five seconds, quite a bit happened. As I pulled her to me, she immediately recoiled, so fast it shocked me. Her face was immediately alarmed, her eyes wide, and she looked as though she'd be shaking if she were still human. She stared at me for a moment, before relaxing, and returning to her normal expression. What was that?

"Rose…" I began, unsure. She looked at me, and shook her head.

"You have to ask me if you want to do anything like that. And be prepared for me to say no. A lot." Her voice was icy, but there was something else lurking underneath there, uncertain and afraid. I chose not to comment on it and she looked grateful as we entered the building, stiffly walking side by side, unsure of how to proceed.

* * *

"So, the car ride went well at least," said Alice, a hopeful tone to her words. Alice was taking over for the drive back from school, as Rosalie and I had not spoken since the morning (Which incidentally made working together in biology extremely difficult). I sighed.

"Yes, before I touched her and she froze up. Which is a great sign, when couples can't touch each other - I think it's mentioned all the time in wedding vows," I replied sarcastically. Alice looked at me, and her usual smile was gone. She looked serious, which really didn't suit her face.

"There's a lot Rosalie needs to tell you, Bella. And it's not my place to tell you, trust me," said Alice. I didn't ask further, but I wanted to know. However, despite Alice's tendency I didn't want to hear it from Alice. I wanted Rosalie to trust me enough to talk to me about these things. I didn't know if that would ever happen, but I wanted it, very much. I sighed again, and then turned back to Alice, who was giving me a small, cryptic smile.

"You saw what I was going to say, didn't you?" She nodded and I snorted. "Smug little psychic."

"That's brilliant little psychic to you, Bella," she replied. I rolled my eyes, and looked back at my house as we pulled up. She parked and looked at me.

"Victoria's debating trying again tonight, so one of us will by later, and again at night, all right?"

"How hard is it to kill a vampire anyways?" I replied bitterly, before looking at the sadness in Alice's face. Right. That hard. And their lives were all on the line too. I grabbed Alice's hand, and hurriedly muttered a "Sorry, I didn't mean to be selfish," before opening the car door.

"It's fine, Bella. We're all on edge." she said reassuringly.

"I know," I replied, melancholy etched in my tone.

"It'll all work out, Bella!" shouted Alice as she drove away. I sighed, and entered the house, slamming the door loudly.

"How was school, Bells?" asked Charlie, calling from his seat in the living room. I gave a generic reply, before heading into the kitchen to get a start on dinner. I moved mechanically through the motions of cooking, hardly thinking of the pasta ingredients

"Bells?" I turned around. Charlie was standing in the entrance of the kitchen.

"Yeah, dad?"

"Are you alright? You seem really preoccupied about something?" he replied. I debated lying, but he was a cop - he'd know was keeping something from him. I sighed.

"It's hard to explain, Dad." He gave me an appraising look, and I quickly flipped through my brain, trying to access the web and determine what best to tell him. Charlie shifted uncomfortable, partially gazing at the floor, before looking back to my face, looking distinctly embarrassed.

"This isn't about a boy, is it?" asked Charlie, discomfort lacing every word of his question. I felt another distinct rush of guilt at the concern he was showing, and at my secrecy on my love life. At that moment, I decided to tell him a half-truth - something that would distract him from the overarching thing. I inhaled deeply.

"Dad, it's not about a boy. It will never be…about a _boy._ " I tried to emphasize the last word, but he didn't seem to fully understand. I internally sighed again, before adding "I don't like boys, Dad. It's about a girl." There was silence, before comprehension dawned on Charlie's face, and he pulled me into a very tight hug, surprising me. I closed my eyes, and hugged him back - my father was not a physically affectionate man, and I knew this gesture was meant as one of love and acceptance, which I really appreciated. I hadn't been too worried about his reaction, but my relief at his response was almost overwhelming. We stood there like that for a while, before he pulled back and gave me a sincere look.

"Renée had called…before you came, she said you had something important to tell me. I didn't know it was this, but…" He trailed off, before returning his gaze to me. "I love you, kiddo. Don't forget that." Another unexpected show of affection. Charlie then let go of me, patted my shoulder awkwardly, and then sat down at the kitchen counter. "You know what, Bella? Take a brea from cooking tonight. I'll order some takeout, okay?" For once, the notion didn't repulse me, and I nodded, and headed into the living room to start doing some homework.

* * *

A half hour passed, with me sitting in the living room, answering questions in my textbook, while Charlie occasionally pestered me with questions about my preference for certain foods. In the end, we settle on Chinese food. Just after Charlie completed calling our order in, there was a knock at the door, causing me to jump. Charlie gave me a confused look, and walked to the door, opening it. There stood Rosalie, dressed casually and looking just as amazing as ever, even with a slightly apprehensive look on her face. Charlie looked like someone had just smacked him in the head with a brick. He opened and closed his mouth several times, before managing to remember how to speak.

"….Hello. Who…uh…who are you?" he asked. He flushed at his own hapless tone.

"Hello, Mr. Swan. I'm Rosalie Hale - Bella invited me over to help with her homework, " she replied smoothly, her voice silky. She smiled, unleashing the full force of her beauty on Charlie. Charlie's mouth opened again, and then stayed that way for a solid ten seconds. I stifled a snort and walked over to him, gently closing his mouth. He shook his head, and then looked at me, confused.

"Sorry, Dad, I forgot to mention it, but yes - Rosalie is my biology partner, and we have an assignment due tomorrow." I said. Charlie didn't respond, and smirked, beckoning to Rosalie and headed towards the stairs. Rosalie seemed amused, and much more at ease than she did this morning, which was a relief. As we were heading up the steps, Charlie called out to us.

"Hey Bells?"

"Yes, Dad?" I replied.

"Do me a favor and leave the door open." Charlie winked, and walked back into the kitchen. I blushed, and lead Rosalie into my room without looking at her, and left the door partially open before collapsing on the bed."May I ask what that last thing was?" asked Rosalie, mirth coloring her voice.

"Oh, well...I told my dad I was a lesbian today. He took it well but…yeah." Rosalie's expression became ponderous and unreadable as she looked at me. I gazed right back at her, noting the amber tint of her eyes.

"He didn't mind?" she asked, slowly.

"No, he didn't. I didn't think he would but he hadn't told him yet. It had never really come up before." I shrugged, and Rosalie continued staring at me.

"And why did it come up today?" she asked, carefully.

"He asked me if I was upset about a boy, and I told him that would never happen. Simple, really." Rosalie actually smiled slightly at that.

"So you had never discussed your dating life with him before?"

"I had never really…well I've never dated anyone," I replied, a bit embarrassed. Rosalie's smile faltered, fading into a look of understanding. I wondered why that was. Without thinking, I asked "Have you? I mean, have you dated anyone?" Her smile vanished, and her blank mask was back. Shit.

 _"Rephrase the question, and explain why you're asking,"_ hinted the web. Oh, finally you decide to say something useful.

"I'm sorry, I…look, I don't know how to say this. But look…we really don't know anything about each other. At all. Today made that…clear." Rosalie winced, but didn't look away from me. "I…meant when I said I want to know more about you. I want to know…everything. I want you to trust me enough to tell me those things. I know you can't do that right away, but…I want to know you. I've never loved anyone before, Rosalie. But really think that I could love you. Before we get there if we get there, I need to understand you." I finished, taking a deep breath. I hoped that hadn't come off as cheesy or disingenuous. Rosalie, gave me a searching look, before part of her mask slipped. She had the vulnerable edge to her features that she did the other day, in Biology, and I unconsciously leaned forward. She broke my gaze and looked down.

"Rose…" I said. I reached my hand out, and held it near hers. She looked up at me, and nodded slightly. I grabbed her hand. Her cold touchy s always, surprised me, but I cherished the rush of electricity it gave me.

"There was a girl when I was human," said Rosalie. "Her name was Vera. I loved her, if I didn't fully understand it at the time. We had tried being together secretly, but she had a husband, which made it difficult. We never went further than kissing. It got less frequent after the wedding. Her wedding. And then we had last night together before I died. She was still my best friend. I miss her, a lot. Ever since the transformation, though, there's been no one. Some would say I'm tough to love. Me included," she added, bitterly.

"So, you were never married?" I asked, quietly. A look of distinct anguish and hatred crossed her face and I involuntarily drew in a very deep breath.

"I was engaged. I died before the wedding." She finished, and let go of my hand.

"I'm sorry. I know that's not helpful in any way, but…I'm sorry." I brushed my fingers across her hand, and she looked away, a pensive expression on her face. "Like I said, you don't have to tell me everything. But little things…they're good. I just want us to have better communication. More of an open dialogue between us." I sighed at how pedestrian that sounded. She looked at me, curious.

"It's weird, you know. You're a vampire and I'm a human, we're both lesbians, but somehow our biggest issue is just like every other boring couple on the planet." She smirked slightly, but she didn't laugh. I just wanted her to relax.

"You know I really hate this." she says, quietly.

"Hate what?" I asked, confused by the change in subject.

"The fact that I constantly feel the desire to be vulnerable and open with you." She looked up, smirking again "It's terrible for my reputation, really."

"Don't worry, I'll tell anyone who walks that you're cold as ice. Metaphorically, of course," I added, thinking about her temperature. She didn't laugh, but her smirk widened, and her overall demeanor relaxed.

"We should probably do some biology homework, now. So your dad doesn't get needlessly suspicious."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" I asked, smirking. She looked repulsed, and I laughed, which earned a glare from her.

"You really have no idea how repulsive human food tastes to us. It's awful, and we try to avoid having to eat it as much as possible," she said, distaste coloring her tone.

"Yes, I noticed you guys don't seem to eat much at lunch," I replied.

"God, the food there somehow smells even worse than it regularly does."

"Well, we're having Chinese food tonight, so…" Rosalie looked like if she could have omitted, she would.

"So…what are you doing this weekend?" I asked, trying to segue into something else.

"Hunting, probably lurking around your house to fight Victoria. Hopefully killing her, but…she's tricky." Rosalie sighed in displeasure.

"Could we…spend some time together? Go somewhere, just the two of us?" I asked. I tried to ignore my nerves, and waited for her response. Rosalie gave me a cold, appraising look, before softening and nodding.

"Alice and Edythe had both suggested that, actually. Alice agrees we have 'communication issues.'" Rosalie rolled her eyes as she said this, and then muttered "irritating little pixie." I snorted and she glared at me again.

"Anyway," she continued, "Edythe suggested a place for us to meet. It seemed sappy and romantic, but I thought about taking her up on it. It's…a meadow." Rosalie cringed as she finishes. I immediately flickered in my thoughts back to the dreams I had about Rosalie, the meadow with the purple flowers, the ethereal quality of her skin in the sunlight…it couldn't be the same place, could it?

"Does the meadow have purple flowers," I asked, before realizing how stupid that question sounded coming out of my mouth. Rosalie gave me with an annoyed look she usually reserved for harsher offenses.

"I don't know, I've never been. It's Edythe's private place. She offered it to me as an apology of sorts - both for her recent behavior and for pissing me off for the past seven and a half decades. I wanted to turn it down but Alice insisted on it for some reason. I reminded her about your stage managing thing, but Alice said you'd agree with her this time." She glared at me again, as though my mentioning the flowers confirmed this.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I just…the web sometimes shows up in my dreams. And I had a few…okay, a lot about you in a meadow with purple flowers." Rosalie groaned in irritation, pinching the tip of her nose.

"God, there's two of you now…look, I did agree. On the condition that they have Emmett and Jasper move some furniture there. I have no desire to lie down in the grass." She shuddered at the thought of it.

"Yes, god forbid anything messes up your clothes or hair, Rose," I uttered, earning me a quiet whack on the arm. I looked up at her, and thankfully she looked more amused than pissed off (though it was pretty close).

"So…homework?" I asked, trying to redirect things.

"I suppose we have to, don't we," she said, returning to her usual cold demeanor.

"Oh relax, for fuck's sake." I muttered, pulling out a notebook. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, and saw that she was smiling again. Hopefully, I could keep her that way - at least for a while.

* * *

 _A/N: So yes, I had her tell Charlie. I figured she'd have to sooner or later, and always pictured Charlie as the sort of person who really wouldn't care one way or another, as long as he didn't have to express emotion for too long. Also, yes, I have made some alterations to Rose's backstory with Royce, but it will be similar - it just has a different slant to it. You'll see.  
(Also feel free to message me if you see any typos - I suck at proofreading, but I'm pretty sure this one is close to perfect in that regard.)_


	15. The Meadow

_A/N: I know, I know, I promised this would be here sooner, but it's been very difficult for me to write this chapter for very personal reasons, as discussed on my profile. Anyway, here is the meadow, and yes, a slight warning here for the discussion Rose and Bella - they discuss her history, which is very painful for her.  
Also, if you read Chapter 14 previously, I'd ask you to reread it again because I realized I had accidentally posted an unfinished, unedited version of it. I've posted the full, edited version, and hopefully it now makes more sense.  
Anyway, enjoy! (I don't own Twilight, but lately I think it owns me. Some lines and passages are lifted from the book just for efficiency's sake, but don't worry, this is still my narrative.)_

* * *

 _Chapter 15 - The Meadow_

That night, Charlie had tried to insist that Rosalie stay for dinner, and it was extremely amusing watching her dazzle him into submission as she politely refused, glaring at me while she did so. She then left, but not before she smirked broadly and very lightly kissed me on the cheek. I felt my skin and face burn, as she whispered, "Goodnight, Bella." In a flash, she was gone, and I was standing there in the kitchen, blushing while Charlie looked at me with an amused expression on his face.

"So…that's the girl, huh?" he said, clearly fighting the urge to laugh.

"Oh, shut up," I muttered, causing his grin to widen.

"She's definitely a looker, Bells," drawled Charlie, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

"Good night, Dad," I said, glaring at him as I marched up the stairs to my room. I heard him laughing, and I collapsed on my bad in frustration. I think I preferred it when he didn't know.

* * *

Rosalie and I agreed on meeting in Edythe's meadow on Saturday, which meant the rest of the week passed with a spectre of tension hanging over the two of us. She continued to drive me to school every morning, and we continued to attempt to make awkward conversation. Our rhythm was growing more natural, but there was still a very large barrier between the two of us, and I wasn't exactly sure how to break through it, but I hoped our day in the meadow would help.

I woke up on Saturday morning with a sense of excitement and dread in my throat. All week, the web had sent me images of meadow, me lying on a white, leather sofa with Rosalie, us talking for a long time. This combined with confusing images of me walking down dark alleys infested with drunk, vindictively laughing men. These men always made my skin crawl, and in the dreams I was always felt a desire to strike these men, to attack them. I could tell there was something foul about them, something evil, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with Rosalie.

I shook off my concerns and hopped in the shower, attempting to make myself presentable, even if it was a futile effort. Rosalie would always be, in every way, more beautiful than me, and I had accepted that. That didn't mean I would at least try to look better for her, just so she doesn't realize how ridiculous it is that I'm her mate. I looked at myself in the mirror, and sighed as I looked over my pale form. I was not ugly, but I knew compared to Rosalie I was essentially a bridge troll. I dried my hair, and debated putting on makeup before realizing the fact that I usually never wore it would lead to many jokes from Rosalie, so I settled on my typical natural look. I changed into a loose pair of blue a simple blue sweater. As I reached the bottom of my closet, I saw an unfamiliar red box, with my name scrawled on it. I raised an eyebrows and opened it.

Inside was a very chic pair of leather boots, with a very slight heel — not enough that I would inadvertently trip over my own feet, but enough that I would look slightly less pedestrian. Next to the boots a much tighter, more form fitting pair of black jeans and was a sticky note that read: _"All your clothes are terrible, Bella. Seriously. I have no idea how you expect to romance my sister when you're dressing like a homeless woman, so I bought you these. The sweater is fine, for now. You're welcome! - Alice."_

I rolled my eyes, and muttered, "Irritating little pixie," before reluctantly putting on the shoes and the jeans. I could have sworn I heard a twinkling of self satisfied laughter from outside my window, but when I looked, nothing was there. I caught myself in the mirror, and was surprised - I looked...good. The jeans certainly fit well, and the shoes didn't look as out of place on my form as I expected. Somewhat abruptly, I heard a knock at the door, and swallowed my nerves and headed downstairs to greet Rosalie. I opened the door, and my breath caught. She looked, of course, as beautiful as ever, wearing a simple red blouse and a sleek pair of black cigarette pants. I tried to avoid staring at her, so I focused steadily on her face, and was surprised to see that she looked...pleased? She was looking at me with what could almost described as attraction. Did I look good today? I made a mental note to thank Alice for the clothes.

"You look...nice," said Rosalie, in a very controlled voice.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" I replied, trying to hide my amusement. Her expression twisted from lust to annoyance, and I smirked.

"It's a somewhat rare occurance, must say," she replied in a clipped tone, though she didn't sound truly annoyed, and I was glad she seemed to approve my outfit for once. She turned away, and climbed into her red BMW, and I followed suit, smiling slightly. The trip began, and all my attempts to make smalltalk were mostly rebuffed. I could tell she was attempting to save all the talking for the meadow. After a while, she turned on the radio and flipped through the stations, before settling one that was playing 80s pop music. She began to hum, quietly to herself, and I was surprised.

"80s music?" I asked, a bemused expression on my face. She didn't look at me but she nodded.

"The 80s was a very good time to be blonde," she remarked dryly. "And the music was definitely the most enjoyable. The 70s were good too. The 50s and 60s, though…" she shuddered. "What a wasteland."

"I would think you would prefer the 50s," I said, surprised. She smirked, and laughed bitterly.

"Edythe enjoyed the 50s a lot. So naturally, I hate it with a burning passion," she stated calmly. I snickered, and I saw a slight smile appear on her face before the silence fell over us again.

* * *

After a while, Rosalie pulled off at the side of the road in a location I didn't recognize, and parked the car.

"Isn't this car a bit ostentatious to leave on the side of the road?" I asked, gazing at the BMW's leather interior.

"Alice will be coming to pick it up," replied Rosalie, stating it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Ugh. I really need to learn how to not accidentally irritate her. I sighed, and stepped out of the car. We were the edge of the woods, and wondered for a moment how we were going to arrive in the meadow, when Rosalie approached me with her arms extended.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I'm going to carry you," she replied, annoyance in her voice. "You can't seriously expect me to move at a human pace for hours, can you?" I sighed, and nodded. She scooped me up into her arms, carrying me in a bridal style, and I blushed immediately. I saw her smirk again and I rolled my eyes.

"Please don't go too fast," I said nervously. She then immediately took off, going far too fast. I would have groaned if I wasn't afraid of vomitting. She moved like a bullet through the trees, never hitting any of the branches, never once tripping. There was no sound, just wind, and no evidence that her feet touched the earth. His breathing never changed, never indicated any effort. I was too scared to open my eyes, so I had no real sense of where we were until we came to grinding halt. I opened my eyes, and my head spun in circles. Rosalie immediately let me down, and I stumbled on my feet before I tripped and almost fell facefirst into a tree before I steadied myself. I could hear Rosalie laughing quietly behind me, but I ignored her and marched forward to the sunlight coming through the trees. I arrived at the meadow, and stopped right in my tracks.

The meadow was exactly as it had appeared in my dreams. It was small and perfectly round. The flowers were primarily a vibrant purple, but yellow and white occasionally appeared in the color palate. The grass was almost frustratingly green, too bright to even seem natural; it was so beautiful it was almost artificial. I could hear the sound of a stream running somewhere nearby. I walked slowly, awestruck, through the soft grass, swaying flowers, and warm, gilded air. The place possessed an almost unreal, fantastical quality to it, like it had been dreamt up by my mind. The only thing to disrupt this illusion laid In the center - amongst the mass of flowers, sat a very large, black leather couch. Hmmm…I looked at Rosalie and raised an eyebrow.

"What, I said there'd be funriture," she said, sounding annoyed at having to restate the obvious.

"In the dreams the web showed me, the sofa was white, but it's fine," I replied. Rosalie was staring at me, with a very perplexed expression on her face.

"Well…this is the sofa from Edythe's room. The one in my room is white…they were going to bring that one, I thought," she said, a little confused.

"They must have changed their mind at the last minute, " I replied, wondering who mae the decision. Rosalie rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like "Two of them," and I smirked.

I then proceeded to walk over to the sofa, but stopped when I saw she wasn't with me. I saw her looking at me self consciously, and I realized why. The suns was shining, bright and unavoidable, and I had never seen her before. She had never been seen in the sun by a human before. I attempted to smile encouragingly at her, and beckoned to her to come forward - I admit I was apprehensive, but I wanted to see what she looked like. For what felt like a full minute, I stood there, looking at her, pleading with her to trust me. She stared at me head-on, her expression full of concern and a very guarded annoyance - I could tell she still didn't want me to see her. Then, she sighed, and pulled her shirt over her head.

Her body was beautiful, probably the most remarkable thing I'd ever seen. I fixated in particular on her slender, perfectly toned waist and stomach. She was the most exquisite creature I'd ever seen, and I had to refrain from repeatedly looking her over with a hunger in my eyes. I could feel a warm sensation appearing in the pit of my stomach, close to the center of my legs, and I quickly attempted to focus, to prevent her from noticing with her heightened sense of smell. I looked back at her face, and saw the ghost of a smirk. Shit. She could tell. I shook it off, and waited as she stepped into the sunlight.

Whatever I was expecting, I wasn't prepared for what I saw. In the dreams, her form in the sunlight had a smoky, shimmery quality. I had half expected her to sparkle or glimmer in some way, which in retrospect was really stupid. As the sun hit her skin, she didn't glow - she was translucent. The sunbeams shone through her skin, glowing and exposing the detail of her insides. The light allowed me to see the bones under her skin, no longer brittle but hard as diamonds. As I looked in her midsection, I could see the long decayed organs that now lay dormant and useless. In her chest, however laid her heart, undecided, perfectly preserved in a bitter red. I took in her skeletal appearance with a mixture of awe and fear. She was undeniably beautiful, still, but she was terrifying all the same. If I ever had any doubt, this was indisputable proof that she was absolutely inhuman.

I stood there, unmoving, unsure of how to respond to the terrifying, undead beauty that stood before me. I felt that any logical person would run - but I didn't want to run. There was something about this person, this woman, that I was beginning to love. And if I ran right now, I would never be able to pursue that. I took a deep breath, and began to approach her. Rose had her eyes shut, and seemed to be preparing for the worst.

"So this is what we really look like," she said, her voice very quiet. "This is me. Translucent, undead, monster."

"You're not a monster," I said. "You're not, Rosalie. You're still beautiful." This caused her to open her eyes into a terrifying glare.

"Beautiful?" she hissed. "You find this beautiful?"

"You're still you, Rosalie," I replied, slowing my approach. "You may not look human right now...but you're still you. You still exist in..." I gestured to her skeletal form. "This may scare me. But I'm not scared of you." Her glare faltered slightly at this, and she looked down at the ground, not meeting my eyes.

"I don't, though. Not the way you do. Do you really want to be this? Could you really love...this?" she said, punctuating the last word with a powerful mix of disdain and anguish.

"Yes, Rosalie," I said, as I finally stood directly in front of her. "Yes, I could." Rosalie shuddered, and for a while we just lingered there, not meeting each other's eyes. Wordlessly, reached out, and touched her hand lightly. She didn't move, but she laced her fingers through mine. I gently lead her to the sofa before I sat opposite her, stretching out my legs. She mirrored my position, sitting very close to me. I gulped, willing my heart to slow it's rapid beating. In this area of the meadow, the sun was still shining, but less prominently. The transluscence was still there, but I was able to focus on the external features of her face, rather than her skull, which allowed me to feel more at ease.

"So..." I began, unsure of what to ask.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, cold and guarded.

"How do you avoid...showing yourself in bright light that isn't sunlight?" I asked, before instantly regretting the flippancy of it. Surprisingly, however, Rosalie smiled slightly.

"That's a fairly easy one. It's really only direct sunlight that makes it like this, you know...clear, transparent," she said. "Under other bright lights, we can seem to glow or inhuman, but it doesn't reveal anything. Carlisle's theory is that our skin only reacts that way to ultraviolet light."

"Is he right?"

"No one else has ever studied vampires as thoroughly as he has, so who knows?"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. The Volturi have done their small bits of research, but Carlisle is very...scientific. He wants to know anything and everything about our kind. He has a curious mind. Which is why he's so excited about your gift, by the way," she said, smirking slightly in amusement.

"You really do think of him as a dad?" I asked, curiosity piqued. Her expression darkened slightly, but she nodded.

"I do, yes. Now, I mean. For a while I hated him."

"Why?" I asked. She looked at me, her expression now unreadable.

"That's not what you're most curious about, is it?" She asked. I shook my head, attempting to calm my nerves.

"I do want to know that, but...I guess I really want to know...I want to know how you became a vampire. What lead you to...this," I said, choosing my word carefully. Her facial expression turned solemn, and she nodded.

"Alright. I'll tell you. The two things are related, anyways." She paused. "I'm going to warn you, Bella. It doesn't have a happy ending. And I'm going to have to ask you not to interrupt me," she said. "I've only ever told members of my family snippets of this, and Edythe has heard most of it in my thoughts, but i've never told anyone this detailed a version of it. If you stop me, I might not be able to finish. Alright?" I nodded, noting the vulnerability in her face. She seemed like she was finally going to open up.

Slowly, Rosalie sat up, and I attempted to mirror her from my awkward position on the sofa. I ended up sitting on my side, propped up by my elbow.

"I was born in 1915. Rosalie Hale is, in fact, my real name. Jasper isn't my real twin, obviously - he just uses Hale sometimes for the sake of the cover story.

"I had guessed that much, yes," I said. Rosalie smirked at that, slightly, before returning to her serious face.

"I was born in a very different time from this one, obviously. Gay people barely existed in culture, and any mention of them was as though they were sick, insane, in need of a cure. Back then, you'd get sent to an asylum for it. Most of my life, I never really thought about it, not until I was sixteen."

"What happened then?" I asked, before remembering her "no interruptions" rule. Rose didn't seem too perturbed by it.

"Well, then, I had my first - well, at the time he wasn't called a boyfriend. It was the first time someone attempted to court me. His name was Stefan. He was several years older than me, but my parents liked him."

"What were your parents like?" I asked, before cringing at my second interruption. Again she ignored it, and pressed on.

"My parents were very middle-class. My father worked at a bank, so we were comparitively well off, especially since the depression was going on. I wasn't really aware of it at the time, though." She looked directly at me, and sighed.

"I was very self-obsessed, Bella. I couldn't help it - my parents always made it clear to me that my beauty was the greatest asset I had. And I was beautiful. Not as beautiful as I am in this life, but beautiful. And I loved it. Women envied me, men wanted me, and I really enjoyed it. I was vain, and I was stupid." Rosalie sighed, and laid back so I was looking down at her. She then looked directly at me.

"Again, this is not a happy story, and it's not an easy one to tell. I hope you're prepared for that." She sighed again. "This is difficult for me, Bella." I inched closer to her, and tentatively placed my arm near hers, deliberately hesitating. She gave me a look very close to warmth, and I gently stroked her arm in a gesture of comfort, relishing in the sensation. Rosalie noticeably relaxed, and I kept my arm on hers; she seemed to involuntarily lean into the contact. She looked at me again, and continued.

"So, I was eighteen. I had broken things off with Stefan after he had tried to kiss me - it was repulsive to me, the thought of kissing him. So I lied to my parents and said he had tried to do something more...serious than was appropriate at the time, and they agreed to allow me to be pursued by someone else. Specifically, they wanted me to be with Royce King." She spoke his name with an acute mixture of disgust and hatred, and I repressed a shudder.

"He was easily the most eligible bachelor in town. His father owned the bank my father worked at, and my parents arranged for me to accidentally run into him one day at the bank. I wasn't drawn to him, obviously. But I noticed him watching me - all the men watched me, so it didn't surprise me. Then he started sending me roses. He sent me roses every night he was with me. They filled my room, to the point that I smelled like them when I left the house. I still smell like them.

"I couldn't say I knew I was gay, because I didn't. But I knew I wasn't really attracted to men, and I knew what I felt for Vera; I just didn't put the two together. The point is - I didn't love Royce. I never pretended that I did, and he never really pretended to love me. He put up enough of a public front and was polite to me in private, but it wasn't love. We both knew that. It was a relief, at first, that I didn't have to pretend.

"And I was happy with him, for a time. Like I said, I was vain at the time, and being with Royce brought with it gifts and jewels and dresses and all the things I had been taught to value by my parents. I enjoyed it all, hollow though it was. My parents were thrilled, and we were engaged quickly." Rosalie sighed again. I could tell she was steeling herself for the dark part of her story, whatever that entailed. I stroked her arm again, and she sighed.

"It was five days before the wedding. I was with Vera and her son. He was so beautiful, and he looked so much like her. Henry was his name. He had brown curly hair, and I already loved him. Vera always brought him to see me, essentially every day. It was like he was mine, and Vera and I were his mothers We didn't verbalize it, but I knew I spent much, much more time with her son than her husband did. We would sit with the baby, kiss and talk about the future. This night, we spent so much time together, we were lying on the sofa together, embracing. Then Royce came to visit, unexpectedly. He saw us there, kissing, arms around each other, and froze.

"He didn't say a word, and neither did we. We entangled ourselves and I walked over to Royce, kissed his cheek, and we went home. I wasn't sure what this was going to mean for me, for us. I was terrified. But Royce didn't seem to be acknowledging it. He talked to me about details of the wedding, and he kissed me when he left for the evening. I thought he was, in a way, accepting this as a part of me. That this would be our marriage - he wouldn't ask questions about Vera, and I wouldn't ask about his business dealings." She paused, and I raised an eyebrow - business dealings? Rose noticed this and smirked slightly.

"I was pretty certain that whatever the Kings did, they had some illegal business on the side. It was a rumor in town, but no one really knew. Like I said, I didn't care much about what he did." Her expression turned more solemn and she continued.

"The next night, I went back over to Vera's. I told her Royce didn't seem to be angry at me after seeing us, and she seemed relieved. She had been worried the whole day about me, and we spent the evening together. Royce didn't know I was there, so once I realized how late it had gotten, I had to walk home. "It was cold, too. Very cold for late April. I was worrying about the weather as I hurried home — I can remember that clearly. I remember every detail about that night. I clung to it so hard…in the beginning. I thought of nothing else. And so I remember this, when so many pleasant memories have faded away completely…I forgot so much of my time with Vera, but this is still clear to me…" She let out what sound like a sigh of anguish, and shuddered. I tentatively reached out, my arm near her shoulder, and looked at her hesitantly. She looked back at me, her face the most vulnerable I'd ever seen it, and nodded. I pulled her fully into me, wrapping my arms around her torso, embracing her so her head was in the crook of my neck. For once, she wrapped her arms around me in response, and slid into me. This was going to be very hard for her.

"I was so close to my house. I was almost there," she whispered. "And then I saw them. Well, I heard them first. Loud. Drunk. They were standing under a streetlight. I remembered thinking I should have called Royce to escort me home. But then I realized he was with them. He saw me too, and shouted for me.

"'Rose!,' he called. The other men were eyeing men with predatory gazes, and they laughed in response. They were his friends, I think. They were all dressed up in suits.

"'Come over here, Rose! We have a lot to talk about!' I didn't move, so he walked over to me and very suddenly grabbed me by my shoulder, and pulled me into him." She sighed. I remembered her reaction that previous day, when I wrapped my arm around her shoulder without warning her…the way she froze immediately. I began to feel sick to my stomach.

"I had never seen him this drunk before. He never drank this much at parties, and I was terrified. His friends walked over to me. One of them stood out, a very tanned, very blonde man who I think was a friend of Royce's from Atlanta.

"'Here's my Rose,' said Royce, laughing somewhat maniacally. 'She's beautiful, isn't she?'

"'It's hard to tell when she's covered up,' replied the tanned man. Royce agreed, and ripped the jacket I was wearing off my body and threw it to the ground, brass buttons scattering everywhere. He pulled my hat off, pulling some of the pins out of my hair, and I involuntarily screamed. This made the men's sick grins grow bigger. Then, Royce laughed very loudly again, and turned me towards him, and leaned down to my ear.

"'Don't worry Rose,' he said. 'I saw you with Vera yesterday. I didn't forget. I'm sure you must be disgusted with yourself. But me and the guys,' he shouted, increasing his volume, 'We promise to fix you!' And then he threw me onto the pavement. They…" She stopped herself, her breath catching. I had to stop the bile that rose up in my throat. I was horrified, scared. Furious that anyone would do something so horrible to Rosalie. And saddened that she had to endure such brutality. But saying all of that would have done her no good. I didn't need to tell her what happened to her was horrible — she already knew that. I began to make small circles in her back with my hand, in an effort to reassure her and distract myself from my own horrified reaction.

"I don't have to tell you what they did. You know what they did. When the last one was done, he got up, and joked to Royce he needed to find a woman who didn't scream so much. Royce agreed, and added he wanted to find someone who didn't kiss her friends." She shuddered again. "I was lying on the pavement, bleeding to death. I wanted death to come. And then Carlisle showed up. He had smelled my blood. I was annoyed the moment he showed up. I had known their family, and hated them. His wife, Esme, and his sister, Edythe, as she pretended to be at the time, were both more beautiful than me, and I hated them for it.

"I thought I'd died when he pulled me from the ground and ran with me — because of the speed — it felt like I was flying. I remembered being horrified that the pain didn't stop. "Then I was in a bright room, and it was warm. I was slipping away, and I was grateful as the pain began to dull. But suddenly something sharp was cutting me, my throat, my wrists, my ankles. I screamed in shock, thinking he'd brought me there to hurt me more. Then fire started burning through me, and I didn't care about anything else." She looked at me, and saw I was confused. What was the fire?

 _"The transformation process is extremely painful. It's three days of burning pain,"_ the web said, speaking unbidden for the first time in a long time. I shuddered, and then nodded to her, to try to indicate to Rose that I understood. She sighed and continued.

"Esme and Edythe came back home, and Carlisle pleaded with them to understand. Esme was compassionate, because she's always compassionate. Edythe was annoyed. 'What were you thinking, Carlisle? Rosalie Hale?'" Rosalie said this is in a much higher voice, which I assumed was a perfect imitation of Edythe. "I didn't like the way she said my name, like there was something wrong with me.

"'I couldn't just let her die,' Carlisle said quietly. 'It was too much — too horrible, too much waste.'

"'I know,' Edythe said, and I thought she sounded dismissive. It angered me. I didn't know then that she really could see exactly what Carlisle had seen.

"'It was too much waste. I couldn't leave her,' Carlisle repeated in a whisper.

"'Of course you couldn't,' Esme agreed.

"'People die all the time,' Edythe reminded him in a hard voice. 'Don't you think she's just a little recognizable, though? The Kings will have to put up a huge search — not that anyone suspects the fiend,' she growled.

"It pleased me that they seemed to know that Royce was guilty.

"I didn't realize that it was almost over — that I was getting stronger and that was why I was able to concentrate on what they were saying. The pain was beginning to fade from my fingertips.

"'What are we going to do with her?' Edythe said disgustedly — or that's how it sounded to me, at least.

"Carlisle sighed. 'That's up to her, of course. She may want to go her own way.'

"I'd believed enough of what he'd told me that his words terrified me. I knew that my life was ended, and there was no going back for me. I couldn't stand the thought of being alone. The pain finally ended and they explained to me again what I was. This time I believed. I felt the thirst, my hard skin; I saw my brilliant red eyes. And, shallow as I was, I felt better when I saw my reflection in the mirror the first time. Despite the eyes, I was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." She laughed bitterly at that. "Of course, that is, until I saw myself in the sunlight. Then I hated what I had become. An eternal, unaging monster. 20 years old forever." On this, she looked at me.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Bella. I killed them. The men who…did this to me. I killed them one by one. Five murders. I didn't drink from them, though. I didn't want any part of them in me. I saved Royce for last. I wanted him to be afraid. I wanted him to know what was coming. I wanted him to feel the fear he made me feel. It worked. At the end, he was hiding in what was essentially a bunker, with two armed guards. Oops," she corrected herself, "make that seven murders."

"I was a bit theatrical about it. When I killed him, I wore a wedding dress that Edythe had stolen for me. She helped me find the men, actually. It was one of the few things she's done for me." Rosalie sighed, her eyes turning pensive. "He screamed when he saw me. He was absolutely terrified. I was careful not spill his blood, as I knew I wouldn't be able to resist it. I went slowly with him. He screamed a lot that night." She looked at me, and I tried to steady my features, but I'm pretty sure I failed.

"Am I frightening you?" she asked.

"No," I lied.

"I'm sorry. I got carried away."

"No. Don't worry about it. Really I just…I'm so…I'm glad those _things_ that did that to you are dead," I said, trying to speak calmly. My voice broke halfway through the sentence, and she sighed. I really didn't know how to explain how I felt. I was so glad the men who had hurt her were dead, but…it still happened to her. That's eight decades of pain, eight decades of emotional trauma. I shuddered, and pulled her tighter into me, before immediately loosening my grip. I didn't want to upset her. Rosalie placed her arm around my waist, and gently touched the corner of my hip, pulling herself closer allowing me to hold her tighter.

"I appreciate your pain on my behalf, but it doesn't change anything. But I understand why it bothers you." She sighed again.

"You hated Carlisle for changing you?" I asked.

"Yeah, I did. I was furious. I spent lots of time telling him he stole my life, and stole my death. I hated him for a very long time. But I don't anymore."

"What changed?"

"Several things," she replied. "First, Emmett. Carlisle changed him three years after he changed me. I was still bitter then, but had softened towards Esme. Then Edtythe found this man in the woods. He had been mauled by a bear, and she brought him to him to change him."

"Why?" I asked.

"He was her mate. I was angry at her. I thought she was selfish. But Emmett...he loved being a vampire. He thrived. He's a very happy person, and it was hard to stay enraged about him. He was my first brother, and we became very close. Then Alice joined, and her attitude effected me."

"How so?"

"Alice is like a...little ball of energy." Rosalie gave the first genuine smile Bella had seen from her in a while at this. "She loves everything about this life. She doesn't remember her human life, so she can't miss it. And then...well she sort of forced me to accept that my human life wasn't perfect."

"How?"

"She basically emotionally kicked my ass. This was in the 60s, actually. Alice asked me a lot of questions about my human life, and she noticed how evasive I was being...I don't talk about my human life with anyone." I swelled a little with pride at this, but tried not to show it and interrupt her.

"She basically told me if I had lived and stayed human...what happened with Royce would have happened anyway. That he would have always had that side to him." Rosalie sighed again. "I was furious at her for telling me that. In my head, my humanity as something precious that I had been robbed of. I didn't have a choice. I was forced into this afterlife without my consent, losing all the possibilities I had. But then Alice said that...it made me realize if it hadn't been that night, it would have been a different one. And I would have ended dead in a different gutter."

"I'm sorry, Rose," I said quietly, wishing I could find something more helpful to say.

"I am too," she said."Anyway, after that I started being nicer to Carlisle. He has always cared for me, in his way, regardless of how spiteful I was. And then about 15 years ago, I started seeing therapists."

"There are vampire therapists?" I asked, surprised. She actually laughed at that before shaking head.

"No, Bella. I saw human ones. Ones I could only tell details of my story to, but not the whole thing. It helped me deal with it, the...aftereffects. But I still struggle, Bella. The fact that I'm even here touching you...I don't know how I'm doing this. It's nice don't get me wrong, but..." she trailed off, seemingly unable to continue.

"I understand, Rose. I don't understand how you feel, but I understand that this all must be very difficult you," I said, in what I hoped was a reassuring tone. "I want to be accommodating to you, I want to make this easier. But I also need you to tell me when I go too far, or I do something wrong. I mean, Rose, I have no idea how to have a relationship with someone else. I want to kiss you and do all those normal things, but...I don't ever want to upset you or cause a flashback, cause you to snap. So tell me...what's off limits?" Rosalie remained silent for a second, not looking at me, before she answered quietly.

"I don't like when people touch my hair or my face without me expecting it. Same with grabbing my arm. I don't mind you wrapping my hands around your waist when we're like this but...I think otherwise, though, it's a bad idea." I nodded. I went back to rubbing circles into her back, and we laid like this in silence, for an hour, before I spoke again. I still felt like we hadn't discussed the biggest issue.

"You still don't like being a vampire, do you?" I asked, quietly.

"No. I don't. I don't hate it as much, anymore. But I still don't enjoy it. I miss growing. I miss changing. Our mating bond is the first real change I've undergone since turning." Rosalie looked at me, eyes full of sincerity, and tenderly touched my face. "This was why I fought so hard against this. Us. You're human, Bella. There's so much beauty in that humanity. I want it not just for myself, but I want it for you. I want you to be able to have a real life, the one I couldn't have had. You can really be with a woman you love in this era. I didn't have that.

"It seemed so wrong to me. To take from you the chance I lost. And then on top of that, you were attracted to me too; I was so angry at you, after I saved you from the car crash. In the hospital, you seemed so intrigued by me and my abilities, and it enraged me; this is not a life I would have chosen for myself. But there you were, intrigued by it and me, and wanting to know more, wanting me. In my eyes, you had the choice that I didn't, and you were choosing wrong. Then I realized you felt all of the mating bond, and then..." She sighed. "I realized you had as much of a choice as I did." I paused, and took in what she said. Maybe immortality was big, and vast and empty. But a life without Rosalie, or a life in which she had to watch me slowly wither away seemed just as cruel. Even if I hadn't known all this, even without the mate bond - I had no doubt I would still have been just as drawn to this woman next to me. Rosalie seemed to get where my thoughts were headed, and pre-empted me.

"Don't misunderstand me, Bella. I am attracted to you. Very much so. And I do want you, as much as you do piss me off," she said, frustration evident in her voice. "But that's the thing, you still irritate me - I keep debating whether it's responsible to date someone who makes me so angry I could sometimes want to kill you." She let out a growl of annoyance. "The universe is a confusing place, Bella."

"I don't care if you want to kill me, Rose. I don't care if I infuriate you," I said, noting the irritated, slightly incredulous look on her face, and ignoring it. "I still want you. A part of me still needs you, even if it makes no sense. I love how bitter and brittle you are sometimes, just as much I love when you're vulnerable like this, rare as it is. I still want to be in a relationship with you - no matter how difficult it is. And even if I do have to become a vampire - at least we'd be together. Even if it doesn't make sense, I want _you_ " Rosalie gave me a look full of emotion, and sighed.

"You really are sappy, Bella Swan," she said exasperatedly. "But to be honest, I feel pretty much the same way about you. And it definitely makes no sense."

"Well, at least we agree on something, Rosalie." She let out a genuine laugh, and I enjoyed the beautiful sound of it. She sighed, and shifted our positions, so that my head was in the crook of her neck.

"You do realize that Alice is going to be unbearably smug, right?" I said, after a brief moment of silence. She laughed, and then shuddered in dread.

"Well, I could always just not come home."

"She'd find you, Rose."

"Probably." I laughed, and sighed, lightly nuzzling my face into her stone neck.

"Is that alright?" I asked, after a moment.

"I suppose," she said, in what was clearly an attempt to sound like she didn't care. I smirked against her chest, and shut my eyes. After a few moments, a felt a pair of icy lips brush against my hair, and gently kiss my forehead.

* * *

 _A/N: Well, here you are! Rosalie and Bella have come to a new stage in their relationship! Please leave positive feedback and constructive criticism. I promise the next update will be faster - it's time for Bella to meet the rest of the family._


	16. An Announcement Of Sorts

Hello everyone,  
I've gotten some anonymous messages (okay a lot of them but I digresS) on when this story will be updated, and the truth is - yes, I will be continuing this, and I apologize for the extended hiatus, but i've struggling with how to handle the revisions of the earlier chapters (which i hate) while keeping most of chapters 10-15 intact, so it's a work in progress.

I promise there will be a new chapter posted by May - for me, it is a matter of whether I delete this original version entirely and post a new one, or whether I revise on top of this and merely delete a few chapters (several of the earlier ones are being compressed). I suppose Option 3 would be to keep this up and post the new revised story separately.

So, please, let me know what you think I should do - I promise, Rosella is coming back, but it will take me time. Life got in the way for me this past year, but I swear - I'm not dead, and neither is this story.

Scream-In-Cathedrals


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